The Diary of a Broken Doll
by Jewel Thief-Amethyst
Summary: "You can close your eyes to the things you do not want to see, but you cannot close your heart to the things you do not want to feel." Sierra wished she could. Sonic hoped she would understand one day. But no one knew how this one girl will change the lives of the Sonic Team forever...
1. The Broken Doll

Hello everyone. I have another story for you. Don't worry about my other stories I will return to them, they are **not** forgotten.

This story will fallow the Sonic X series with my own characters. Well basically, I replace Chris with my own character and make the story a little different.

So please review and tell me what you think.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic X or the Sonic Team. Except my own OC.

With Love, Amethyst ;]

* * *

It was dark, only the crescent moon shredding any light into my room.

Oh, how I love this kind off nights. Peaceful, calm and beautiful. Makes you forget all your problems, if only for a short time. And at that moment my life was nothing more than a big problem.

_All__ my life I wanted someone to be with me..._

_... someone to keep me from being alone._

_I've always been alone. No one with me, no one who understood what it was like to be me..._

_Danny, Frances, Helen... they weren't really my friends, so they won't understand. _

_My Grandpa, even he couldn't understand._

_And my parents….well that was a whole different story. _

_It wasn't their fault. How could they known what I go thru everyday? _

_Dad was __an actor, he was always busy with his movies, Mom was a singer, her job took all of her free time mostly, and grandpa, even he was busy with his science experiments... they were the ones out there, making enough money to give me every sort of luxury I could ever imagine..._

_But I didn't want that..._

_If I could have gotten them to come home by giving up everything they had given me, I would have done it in an instant._

_When I was six years old, I remember one morning standing right before the doors. _

_Dad and Mom... were standing by the doors, saying goodbye to me, telling me to be good..._

_And then that question that I asked, every time I ever saw them..._

_"__**If I'm good, will you come back soon?"**_

_I was too young to see that, despite their empty promise of "__**yes**__," they wouldn't come back until work was finished... which could take months. True, they came back occasionally, but it was always rushed and they were always running back off to work._

_One time they left for a whole year. I remember that then, before leaving, my mother had bought me a lovely porcelain doll. She had crystal blue eyes and long golden hair. __She was wearing a red gown with a matching shawl and bonnet as accessories. Her bonnet was fastened to her head with a green ribbon, which was tied into a bow at her neck and held in place with a pink rose brooch._

_I named her Angelina, because she reminded me of a little angel. _

_That doll was probably the closes thing I had to a friend back in my childhood. I always had her with me. She was my only companion. _

_So years passed, holidays and birthdays, and all I got were presents from my parents. Yes, they were the best presents that money could buy, but I didn't want any of that..._

_I had everything that any child could want……Everything. _

_But what good are presents if you're alone?_

_Then my grandpa suggested sending me to a public school, so I could be with other kids my age. In the end my parents agreed. _

_But It didn't go as I planned…..as I wanted. _

_I was known as the girl with the famous parents, the rich girl, who was spoiled beyond reasonable thought. _

_They made fun of me….used me….ignored me._

_No one took the time to know me.__ The real __**me**__. But then I met some kids that I could call my friends, the ones who started to know me for who I was, and for once I felt like maybe I wasn't so alone anymore. _

_But as time went by, I realized that no one, not even Danny, Frances, or Helen could understand me. Everyone had their parents with them all the time... but mine were missing. Gone, and as far as I knew, they were gone from the very beginning and will probably be gone forever._

_My friends were trying their best to help me as best as they could and as much as I loved them and being with them, I knew I was still missing something. I was afraid to speak with them about my problems, because I knew they would never understand me. They would think I'm overreacting. So I usually kept all my thoughts to myself and never shared them with anyone. _

_I became ev__en more distant than I was before. I rarely talked to anyone anymore. That's how I gained the title 'Ice princess.' _

_Yes, a really fitting title indeed. It fits me just wonderfully. Honestly, I didn't care what they called me….not anymore. _

_I'm angry, I know this__……__and my family couldn't care less.__I'm lonely,__I feel this……and I wish I was the best._

_There is no one to guide me thru life…..I always walk alone. _

_I'm always crying at night, when nobody else is home. _

_I just hoped that everything will be alright in the end……that I just had to give it some time. _

I hear the ticking of the clock. I'm lying here the room's pitch dark. The night goes by so very slowly. Sometimes I just sit there, on my bed, and talk to myself, pretending that someone's listening…..

….. Couldn't I leave this world for just a moment, to look into the future, to know what will be?

Just let me know, know the answer….

……How can I….. How can I - never be alone?

I really wish that someone would answer that for me. But I guess I have to find the answer myself.

I suddenly remembered one pitiful night, a couple of years ago, that changed me dramatically….

……_The house was empty, the maids had already left for the night and my grandpa was working late in his science lab down town. The only ones home were dad, mom and me. I was really happy that they came home from work and now we could spend so time together. How wrong was I. _

_It appeared that dad came home drunk that night, from some kind off business party. And soon he and my mom began to scream at each other, throw things, fight. _

_I held Angelina tight in my arms as I came downstairs to see what was happening. That was my mistake. I don't remember what really happened after that, all I remember is my father slapping me across the face, ripping Angelina from my arms and throwing her against the wall. _

_All I saw that moment was, my doll…..my lovely doll….my friend lying on the ground completely broken. _

_I remember how my mother ran to my side while yelling at my father for hitting me, but I didn't care at that moment, something inside me broke that night……my spirit……my soul. _

_My father threw away Angelina that same night._

Now here I am today, unhappy, alone and broken…..

A broken doll by the name of Sierra Katelyn Edwards.


	2. Double Life

Sierra isn't all that sure exactly when she grew up.

She knows that it probably didn't happen _**too**_ suddenly, when she wasn't expecting it. It was gradual enough that she didn't notice (too wrapped up in her studies...), but still a lot faster than it should have been. It mainly occurred somewhere between the ages of seven and twelve, she figures. It's in the middle of that period where things began to get complicated.

Sierra knew that she was a smart girl, despite her age. Maybe that's why she was able to live thru her horrible childhood. Any other kid would probably run away from home, or ended up becoming a complete moron and egoistic person. But not her.

Sierra thinks a lot. She's good at that. Smart enough to know what hurts and what doesn't. Knows when you should panic and when you should stay calm. She knows that she can take care of herself. She's been doing it since she was nine. Now at the age of thirteen she feels like an adult. And that makes her sad, because rather then enjoy the beauty of childhood, to be free to do whatever you want, without a care in the world, she has to put up with those annoying kids at school and the absence of her parents every damn day.

But still she was happy that she was in control of herself.

From the first day of school, Sierra never really knew why the kids didn't like her. From the beginning she thought that they were teasing her because of her name, the name of a famous and well known family. They thought she was a rich and spoiled brat. But now they simply adored her. It was strange and, well, annoying.

The first two years of school, they got to see what kind of person she was, and to there surprise she wasn't a rich and spoiled as they thought. So, after that, they wanted to be her friend, but not because she was a sweet and caring person. They wanted her as there friend because, they thought having a rich and famous person in there group will only be more fun for them. Well in simple words, they wanted her fame. Now how cool is that to have a famous friend?

For that reason, Sierra avoided them all. They can be as sweet as they want, but she won't fall for that 'sweet' thing.

They were jealous….

…..Of everything she had and everything she was.

They were jealous that she lived in a lavish mansion, with lots of maids and all that luxury….

….jealous that her parents were so famous all around the world….

….jealous that she had good taste in fashion….

…jealous of her talents and abilities….

…jealous of her looks, of her athletic body and pretty face.

Today she was known as 'The Perfect Girl' in school. Because the kids thought that she had it all. Ironic how years ago she carried the title 'Ice Princess' and now she's 'Perfect' all off the sudden. Danny, Frances and Helen were her only friend at school. She didn't bother to get to know those snobs that dressed the same, tried to look the same, and even acted the same!

With the absence of her parents, and often her grandfather, Sierra was left to do whatever she wants. She used that time to read book and learn new things. By now she was, without a word, a protégé. And yet her parents didn't know that. Well they never bothered to ask and she never really wanted to tell them. Well, she doubted they would care.

When she turned eleven, she gained a love for singing. She never told her mother, because she would go all crazy with '_my baby wants to become a singer just like her mother, I am so proud of you my dear_' that nonsense. Her father and grandpa didn't know she was into singing too. Hell, she didn't even tell Danny, Frances and Helen.

Sierra just loved to sing, because that was the easiest way, for her, to express her feeling and leave her problems behind for the time being. She tells the people how feels thru her songs.

So, she secretly went to a music school and now, at the age of thirteen, Sierra had become a famous pop star under the stage name "Selen." She goes to great lengths to disguise herself as Selen in order to keep her true identity a secret, except for her one close friend. Elora Ross.

She met Elora a year ago, when she came to the same music school that Sierra was at that moment. Elora was a pianist and after she met Sierra they become friends. She was the only one who knew who 'Selen.' was.

Despite knowing Elora for only a year, she is closer with her than she is with Danny, Frances and Helen. Well they are just school buddies; they don't really hang out that much outside of school.

Elora understands how Sierra is feeling and she can imagine how it was hard without your parents around and without any friends for so long. Sierra is actually Elora's first friend, because like Sierra, she was a loner in her childhood and usually spend her free time learning how to play the piano.

Elora went to a different school than Sierra, so they only met at the music school, and hang out after there practice lessons.

At first, Sierra didn't know if she could handle living a double life, but with Elora's help she could do it easily. And as a matter-of-fact, today she had a big concert to attend.

**Sierra's POV**

The sun is going down and I feel the fresh air from the up coming dark sky trough my brown hair. At first I felt stress out because I was performing in a concert with millions of fans. But with Elora here by my side I feel a little better.

We finally reached the place where I will be performing today….

Diamond Stadium.

As we arrived, I and Elora quickly went towards the dressing room, where my manager, Jack Corell was waiting for me.

Jack is a very loving person. He always knows what's best for me and for that I really adore him. A large side of his personality is very childlike. He likes playing jokes on people and sing silly songs during parties, but I still love him.

He is more of a father figure to me than a manager, or a simple friend. He didn't even question me why I wanted to keep my identity a secret. He simply said '_Whatever you want sweetheart, I wont stop you._' His friendship and support really means a lot to me.

"Ah, there you are kitten, for a minute there I thought I will have to go and sing instead of you"

Jack usually called me 'kitten,' or 'Cool Cat' and I loved it. Makes me feel all warm and loved inside. He even gave Elora a nickname 'Bunny Boo.' I tell you, I laughed at first, but by now I kind of got used to it.

"Now **that** would be scary, maybe you should leave the singing to me" I asked innocently.

"Good point, now come on, lets get you dressed."

To hide my true identity as Sierra Edwards, Jack and Elora had made me a new look. As Selen, I wear a long blond wig with blue strips in it, more extravagant clothes and make-up and sometimes large sunglasses. The only thing that I left as the real me, are my sapphire eyes.

Today I was to wear a short and absolutely gorgeous blue dress, with silver high shoes. After the make-up was put on me, I went to look at myself in the mirror.

I have to say, today I look absolutely gorgeous. They even drew me a black spade under my right eye. Looks totally awesome. I look like a pop-star Alice in Wonderland.

"Kitten, lets go your up" as Jack entered the dressing room he gasped.

"Alice, is that you?" he asked playfully. I just smiled and rolled my eyes.

"Well come on, it's Showtime!" I nodded and fallowed Jack towards the open stadium.

"Good luck" he whispered to me, before I went to the field.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the wonderful Selen!" As the crowd began to cheer, I felt all the stress leaving my body. The music began to play, and I let my alter ego take control. For tonight I'm Selen.

Now it's Showtime.

**I feel oh so glamorous, looking super fabulous  
Sometimes I'm insecure, something I can't ignore  
All the flashing cameras, try my best to handle it  
I'm just the girl next door, I can hear the rumors take all...**

All the girls in the club got their eyes on me  
I can tell by the look that they want to be  
Be hot, hot, hot like that  
But it's not, not, no it's not like that  
All the girls in the club got their eyes on me  
They put me down 'cause of jealousy  
But I'm not, not, not that girl  
And it's not, not, no it's not my world

So many girls be checkin' my style  
Checkin' my style, checkin' my style  
So many girls be checkin' my style  
But I don't even care, no

I move in mysterious, ways that got them curious  
They're looking at what I'm wearing  
Standing on the sidelines staring  
Taking every chance I get  
To find who I'm going with  
I just wish they'd see, what I'm like in real life

All the girls in the club got their eyes on me  
I can tell by the look that they want to be  
Be hot, hot, hot like that  
But it's not, not, no it's not like that  
All the girls in the club got their eyes on me  
They put me down 'cause of jealousy  
But I'm not, not, not that girl  
And it's not, not, no it's not my world

So many girls be checkin' my style  
Checkin' my style, checkin' my style  
So many girls be checkin' my style  
But I don't even care, no

What's good I'm weak no longer  
In life it's making me stronger  
What I like I'm a get that  
Like a quick cat, no I won't quit that, you heard me  
You'll find that I'm just like you  
And I do the same things you do  
The type of chick that hits spots, in my flip-flops  
Listening to Hip-Hop, you feel me yeah

All the girls in the club got their eyes on me  
I can tell by the look that they want to be  
Be hot, hot, hot like that  
But it's not, not, no it's not like that  
All the girls in the club got their eyes on me  
They put me down 'cause of jealousy  
But I'm not, not, not that girl  
And it's not, not, no it's not my world

All the girls in the club got their eyes on me  
I can tell by the look that they want to be  
Be hot, hot, hot like that  
But it's not, not, no it's not like that  
All the girls in the club got their eyes on me  
They put me down 'cause of jealousy  
But I'm not, not, not that girl  
And it's not, not, no it's not my world

An applause breaks out. I smile and take a bow. It fells so good. With that I take my leave.

"Awesome as always" Elora pulls me into a very tight embrace. I returned the hug.

"Well let's get you home, before your crazy maids find you missing" Jack said. After changing into my normal cloths and taking off all my heave make-up, Jack tuck me and Elora home.

If the maids find me missing, I'll just say that I was with Elora, and Elora already told her mother that she was studying at my house and will be home late. We are **so** sneaky.

After Jack dropped me off by my house, I had to sneak into my house thru the back door by the pool. I'm surprised that no one had yet to catch me. Yeah, that will make me a great thief someday. Just kidding.

As I entered the house, I went straight for my room. As I predicted, no one saw me. Well I'm too tired to care right now. All I want is to sleep!

After changing into my night cloths, I went straight to bed. I have to say, that I love my double life as Sierra and Selen. Every day is a small adventure to me.

Who knew that the biggest adventure of my life will be dropping to me sooner than I thought….

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Please tell me what you think =]

The Sonic Team will be in the next chap.


	3. Before the Dawn

_The moon was shining brightly and the stars look__ed like pure diamonds in the pitch black sky. _

_Sierra stood in __the middle of a field, which was completely covered with beautiful snow-white flowers. She wasn't familiar with this place, but somehow she felt safe here. _

_Sierra looked above her at the beautiful diamond sky. It always made her feel better seeing the stars. She had no idea why, though. Maybe it was just because they gave her a sense of someone there with her, a sense of not being alone._

"_The night is beautiful, don't you agree?" came a soft voice somewhere behind Sierra. _

"_Yes, it is." She answered. She didn't turn to look, who was there with her. She already knew who it was. Somehow she knew. It was….a friend. _

_Sierra knelt down and picked one white flower. She wasn't really a flower-lover like Elora, but this beauty was hard to ignore. She then felt how those white flowers were put into her hair. _

"_There, they look good on you." said the person behind her. Sierra didn't say anything. She just continued to look at the flower in her hand. _

"_You know, standing here tonight, in this field, makes you feel like you're dreaming…." _

_A light breeze blew by, lifting some of the flower petals into the air. _

"…_.somehow I know that we can't wake again from this dream….it's not real, but it's ours…." _

_Just then, Sierra wanted to turn around to face the person who was speaking those sweet yet sad words. _

_She stood up, and turned…._

"Miss Edwards, it's time to get up."

Sierra moaned softly and opened her eyes slightly. She found herself on her side facing the window. She rolled on to her back to face the ceiling.

"_It was all a dream..."_ She thought to herself wearily.

"It's time to get up Miss, your mother called. She said she wanted to speak with you when you wake up." Sierra turned to see one of the maids, Laura, putting a tray with food on her desk.

"Yes, alright, thank you, Laura" Sierra said as she climbed out of her warm bed. Laura nodded and left the room.

Sierra put on a silk pink robe, grabbed a glass of orange juice from the tray and went to her balcony. The weather was lovely that day. It wasn't to hot or cold. A light warm breeze blew thru Sierra's long brown hair.

"_Mnn…this feels familiar_" she found herself remembering the dream she had. But who was there in that dream with her?

The voice was defiantly male, but who could it be? Her father?...no….Danny?…..no, just no way!

But who ells could it be?

"This dream, it's not real but it's ours" she repeated the word which the mysterious person had said to her. And just then it hit her.

"I have a new song!" She quickly left the balcony and ran downstairs to her music room.

The music room was in the far end of the house. When her mother had first begun her career as a singer, she made the music room so she could write songs and practise them at the same time. But now, when she was a popular singer and rarely was at home, Sierra was now using that room to create her own songs.

She closed the door behind her as she entered the room. Sierra quickly went to her desk, pulled out her text book, and begun to write down the words for her new song.

"Never before had a song came to me in my dreams, but I guess there's a first for everything." She said to herself.

After three hours of work, Sierra heard a soft knock on the door.

"Yes?" she said wile continuing her work.

"Miss, your mother is calling" said the maid outside the door. Sierra stopped her work and went to her desk where the phone was.

"Hello?"

"_Oh, darling it's so nice to hear you, how are you doing?_" her mother's happy voice called through the phone. Sierra sat down on her chair.

"Everything is fine." She said absentmindedly.

"_Oh, that's nice to hear, listen I called to tell you that you'll be having a new maid, she will arrive later this evening._"

"_Whatever_" Sierra thought.

"Alright"

"_Her name is Ella Gutierrez, she will be living with us from now on._"

"_You mean she will be living with __**me**__ from now on_" Sierra thought.

"Sure, mom, I understand" she said in a fake happy voice.

"_Oh, I knew you would my sweet, well I have to go now. I love you dear._"

"Yea, love you too, mom, bye." Sierra hung up the phone and put it on her desk. So, a new maid? Pff! Like they don't have enough already.

Later that evening, Sierra was waiting for the new maid to arrive. She was sitting on the couch in the living room, when she heard the door bell rang. Sierra stood up as Laura and the new maid entered the living room.

Ella was a rather large woman, somewhere in her late thirties perhaps, with short curly brown hair and deep blue eyes.

"Miss, this is Mrs. Gutierrez, our new maid" Laura introduced the maid. Sierra bowed her head in greeting.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Gutierrez, my name is Sierra. I hope you'll like it here." Sierra said politely.

"Oh, child, call me Ella, I don't need that 'Mrs.' nonsense, makes me feel old" the woman said with a bright smile. Sierra smiled back.

"_Well, maybe I was wrong about her, I think we'll get along nicely_" Sierra thought.

Later that night, when the whole house was asleep, Sierra had finally finished her song.

"Well let's try playing it on the piano and see what turns out." She sat down by the piano and began to play.

**Meet me after dark again and I'll hold you  
I am nothing more than to see you there  
And maybe tonight, we'll fly so far away  
We'll be lost before the dawn**

**If only night can hold you where I can see you, my love  
Then let me never ever wake again  
And maybe tonight, we'll fly so far away  
We'll be lost before the dawn**

Sierra smiled as she sang those words from her dream….

**Somehow**** I know that we can't wake again from this dream  
it's not real, but it's ours**

**Maybe tonight, we'll fly so far away**  
**We'll be lost before the dawn**

**Maybe tonight, we'll fly so far away**  
**We'll be lost before the dawn**

After she finished singing she smiled proudly. What a nice song it turned out to be. She'll have to make a call to Jack and tell him that she wants to sing this song at her next concert.

But who was that mysterious person? Well if it wasn't anyone she knows, then maybe she will meet someone new soon?

Sierra shook her head. Well, she will have to wait and see and hope that her new song will please her fans.

**Before the Dawn**….

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**Thank you for your reviews. (Kiss you!) I hope you enjoyed this chapter it's not that long, but, oh well the others will be longer, so review and speak your mind ;] **


	4. The Blue Hero

Thunder, rain, and lightning…

That was the weather on that fateful night. Was it coincidence? Just to set the mood? Or maybe some twisted combination of both? No matter what the cause, the storm had happened, and now it was even harder for the Sonic Team to complete their mission.

A red echidna stood on top of a high cliff, while looking towards the base, which he and his team will be attacking soon. They can't fail their mission, they simply **can't**! Not only was the life of their young friend in danger, but also the most powerful jewels in the entire galaxy, were in the hands of a mad scientist.

"_Knuckles….Knuckles can you hear me?" _came a voice from the talking device on the echidna's wrist.

"Yes, where are you Rouge?" he asked.

"_I'm already inside Eggman's base. I'm heading towards the generator room at this moment_."

"Alright, contact me as soon as you find Cream and the Emerald…..and be careful." He added the last part with a slight hesitation.

"_You got it honey_. _Rouge out_."

Well everything is going according to plan so far. If only this damn rain would stop.

"Tails, this is Knuckles, can you hear me?" Knuckles decided to check how the others were doing.

"_Hear you laud and clear_" a child-like voice spoken.

"Where are you two right now?"

Lightning streaked across the sky, as thunder made itself known almost immediately after the ethereal light had passed. Knuckles growled softly. Damn it, even the nature is against them today!

"_Me and Amy are flying over the Diamond Lake at this moment, we'll reach the base in five minutes._"

"Alright' I'm going toward the base. Knuckles out."

The white-blue electricity shot across the sky again, a brighter and longer-lasting one than its predecessor.

"_Stupid storms… They always ruin everything" _Knuckles thought as he made his way down the hill.

At the base the siren went off and immediately all the lights turned on, searching for any intruders. The metal doors closed and hundreds of robots surrounded the area outside the base.

A blue blur made its way towards the base at great speed. The robots immediately fired, sending missiles at the blue blur. The blue blur ran past them and jumped over the fence, landing just outside the base.

He continued to run towards the entrance, only to stop in his tracks by another set of guard-robots. Making a sharp turn to the left, he continued to run, wile the robots were hot on his tail.

"_Damn it_" he thought as he ran. Suddenly a giant robot came out of nowhere and hit the blue blur with such force that send him flying into the sky.

"SONIC!" a distressed cry was heard thru the pouring rain. A blue plane appeared with two passengers inside. A little yellow fox and a pink hedgehog.

As the plane flew closer to the base, the plane was damaged by the robots, which were on the ground by the fence. Smoke appeared from the plane, followed by a spark of flames.

"Tails, the plane is on fire, what are we going to do?" the pink hedgehog asked.

"We're going to save Sonic!"

Tails fired a missile at Sonic, which held a gold-like ring inside. The ring disappeared from view as it fell into the forest bellow. In seconds a bright blue light appeared, fallowed by a big wave of energy. The ring gave Sonic the power he needed to increase his Spin Dash attack and use it to destroy all of the robots that were standing by the fence and even demolish those giant guard-robots with one strike. After breaking thru another couple of robots, Sonic was able to break into Dr. Eggman's base.

Tails was able to land the plane on the ground but the breaks were jammed.

"Hold on, Amy!" Tails shouted thru the rain. Amy opened her eyes, only to see that the plane is heading towards a giant rock.

"Tails, we're going to crash!" She yelled in fear.

"I know!"

Just as the plane was about to hit the rock, it shattered into million's of pieces right in front of them. After the plane had finally stopped, Tails opened his eyes to see what had happened. He turned to look behind him and saw his team-mate standing just behind the plane.

"Knuckles!"

"Are you two alright?" the echidna asked as he came closer to the plane.

"Yea, we're fine" Amy replied.

Lightning streaked across the sky fallowed by a loud boom of thunder, and Tails yelped loudly.

Why, oh, why did he have to be cursed with astraphobia?

"Okay, maybe we're **not** so fine after all" Amy muttered.

Knuckles turned to look at the Doctors base, which was now half destroyed because of Sonic's attacks.

"_Hope they make it out safely_" he thought.

Inside the Doctors base, all the doors had been closed, to prevent any intruders from reaching the generator room, where all the Chaos Emeralds were.

"Dr. Eggman, the facility is in 100% locked down." a yellow robot informed the Doctor.

"Why is the cursed Sonic always get in my way?" Eggman growled.

"He doesn't get in your way, Dr. Eggman, Sonic is trying to stop you from all the bad things that you doing." came a weak reply from the little rabbit, that was held prison by the Doctor.

Eggman turned to the rabbit and furiously twitched his moustache. "Is that so? Well he's too late to stop me this time. Once I insert the last Chaos Emerald, my energy amplifier will be invincible." He snickered.

"But you can't do that!" the rabbit stated in fear. "Sonic won't let you get away with this!"

Unnoticed by anyone, Rouge the Bat was watching them, while she was think of a plan encase Sonic wont arrive in time to stop the Doctor.

"_I can't go down there, Eggman's robots will shoot me down in les then seconds_" Rouge thought. "_Damn it, Sonic where are you?_"

"You're wrong Creamy, this time that blue rat doesn't stand a chance." Eggman snickered. "He can't stop-…."

Just then the door exploded filing the room with black smoke instantly.

"Sonic!" Cream cried out happily.

Eggman quickly pushed some buttons on his machine, which held the Chaos Emeralds and then turned smugly to Sonic.

"You'll never stop me now, Sonic, all I have to do is to push this little button." He held his hand over the button.

Sonic smirked "Yea, if you can push it before I grab it."

The Doctor began to panic silently, before he saw one of his robots appearing behind the hedgehog. He smirked, guess the luck was on his side today.

"Why don't you give it a try." He stated.

Sonic heard movements behind him and was able to get out of the way as the robot opened fire.

"Don't let him get away!" the Doctor yelled. The robot was trying to shoot Sonic, but the hedgehog was to fast for him. When Rouge leaned a little too far, to see what was happening down below, she was almost hit by the robot, which was aimlessly firing at Sonic. She yelp in surprise, luckily for her, Eggman was to busy yelling at Sonic to notice her. Sonic on the other hand noticed her immediately and ran to the other side of the room, so the Doctor won't notice her presence.

Sonic jumped in front of Eggman and the robot aimed at them. "No, hold your fire-…." Eggman didn't finish his sentence as the robot opened fire. Sonic quickly jumped out of the way, wile Eggman hit the floor, just barely avoiding the fire.

Unfortunately the robots fire hit the machine, which held the Chaos Emeralds. Eggman looked up from his place on the floor and gasped.

"Now look what you've done, it's going to explode!" In les then seconds, everyone was blinded by the bright white light that came from the machine.

Outside the base, the Sonic Team watch in awe as the whole base was swallowed by the bright light.

"What….what is that?" Amy questioned. The light was coming their way every passing second.

Knuckles wasn't fazed- he was **paralyzed**. He tried his best not to show it. What have they done?

"….It's Chaos Control." He replied quietly. They didn't have the chance to run away. Soon the whole area was swallowed in that bright light and then…nothing.

* * *

Blinking emerald coloured eyes, the blue hedgehog tried to force the light out of his vision, but it didn't seem to work. It was only after he heard horns honking did everything clear up. To his surprise, he was surrounded by beings almost like Eggman; only nowhere near as ugly and egg-shaped.

"_Is that humans_?" Sonic thought. The people were all looking at him with confusion and curiosity.

"_Where am I, and what are they all staring at?_" the hedgehog glared at the said people; uncomfortable under their gapping gazes.

"What is this Halloween?" someone yelled from the crowd.

"What is that thing?" four men wearing uniforms came closer to Sonic. "It looks like a big hedgehog."

"A blue hedgehog?" one of them asked.

"Well whatever it is, we better get it out of the road" replied the other.

"Hey, buddy wanna ride with us to the station?" one of them asked the hedgehog.

"Should I ask for backup, sir?" the officer asked, not sure if they could handle the animal on their own.

"I have three kitty cats at home I think I can handle this little fella'" Sonic frowned and crossed his arms. Never before had anyone spoken to him like that.

"See that, that thing has an attitude" said the officer after he saw the frown on Sonic's face.

"Why you little-…." The officer was about to grab Sonic, but he quickly moved out of the way.

"Little bastard!" the other man roared enraged. "Hey, policemen don't mistreat animals." His partner stated.

"Alright, surround him men." The four of them surrounded the hedgehog in hopes to jump all together and capture him.

"On my count, everyone catch it!"

"….Slowly" they came closer.

"Now!" they all jumped, but instead of catching the hedgehog, hey hit the ground. Where the hell did it go! They all got up and saw the hedgehog run towards the Freeway.

'_Whatever these people are, aren't as friendly as they look''_ Sonic thought.

"Alert! A large blue hedgehog is loose in the city. Block all the roads! All traffic must cease!"

A police helicopter had located Sonic almost immediately. "Acquiring the target! It's gone north from Central Street! 1015, It has entered entered the Freeway." The pilot reported to the police station.

"Roger. Patrol 80-5-5. The target is in your area. Try to catch it!"

Sierra silently watched the dark sky, the stars barely seen thanks to the light of the town nearby. It was a Friday night, and all her friends were home, enjoying their families before bed...

…except for her of course.

It had been a week since she wrote her last song "**Before the Dawn.**" To her surprise it turned out to be a big hit. Everyone loved it. From the Top 20 fav songs, her song reached the 3rd place. She even out ran her mother, who was now fussing, because some kind of kid is better than her. Ha, if only she knew.

_'Man, I feel lonely,'_ Sierra sighed, laying her head on her crossed arms, which were comfortably resting on the windows ceil. Staring up at the night sky, stars twinkling weakly, she wished, _'If only something interesting would happen once in a while...'_

The moon was shining brightly and the stars were seen pretty clear outside the city. Sonic was sitting on top of a lamppost, deep in thoughts. He gave the policemen the slip, well for now anyway.

"The sky at night is the same…the stars, too….and the moon as well" he said quietly as he gazed at the moon. "I guess Chaos Control must have sent me here."

"_I travelled thru space, did I travel thru time too? Am I the only one here…are all the others…..gone_" he closed his eyes for a moment, hoping that his friends survived and are here on this planet somewhere.

"Well , I'll just have to find out." He jumped down from the lamppost just as police cars appeared in front of him.

"_They found me already. Damn it!_" The police cars came to a stop, but strangely they didn't look like the ones Sonic saw in the city. They looked more like sport cars?

The door opened and one of the humans climbed out of his car. "Yo, blue hedgehog" the man said. "There's been a local search for you. Thank you for waiting."

Sonic turned to leave, but the man stopped him. "Wait!" Sonic stopped but didn't turn to face the man.

"You should hear a person's words out until the end." Sonic looked at him over his shoulder.

"This city is….this place is too peaceful. In the last year, only one criminal was captured. He brought his formula machine onto the freeway, pretending to be a racer…his fun lasted only two minutes."

"_What is he getting at?_" Sonic thought.

"He drove from place to place…." The man continued "…..hell, you can make ramen in two minutes…..Hey, this is the part where you're supposed to laugh." The man stated. Sonic turned to him and smirked.

"That's close enough" the man smirked back "Well, in this city, we're unique. The special high-speed highway force, the S-Team. I'm the captain. I'm called ' Highwest.' Sorry that was a long introduction. From now on, this will be fast."

Sonic had only seconds to react as the sport cars went after him.

"_Stay alive until I catch you._" The captain climbed back into his car and fallowed his team.

The Freeway was blocked for all the other cars, so Sonic could run free without having to worry about all the cars that would have been in his way.

"The 'S-Team' huh? The 'S' must stand for slow-motion." Sonic increased his speed and ran ahead. To his surprise the sport cars were catching up on him.

"Well, well who had thought…" just to mock them, Sonic decided to increase his speed a little bit more. Soon they reached more than 270 mph. and it was still growing.

"Ha, we'll get that runt this time. Captain we're almost-….what!" Incredible, the hedgehog was running backwards at almost 320 mph!

"What, it's playing with us…"

"Where did this thing come from?"

"Captain, you've got to do something!"

"Play time is over!" the captain announced "Attention all units, open the centre line." The cars cleared the road for their captain.

"I didn't think I'll have to do this….but I won't let anyone be **faster** than **me** on **my** highway!" he opened the tank, which held 'super nitro' that helped him increase his speed so much, that he past Sonic, who quickly moved out of the way, so not to be hit by that speed lunatic.

"Ha, ha the only way he can beat me now, is if he goes super sonic." Just when he thought he won, a bright blue blur dashed past him.

"The sonic boom! He's moving faster than the speed of sound!" the captain's eyes widened in shock. Is that thing even real?

"Captain, your running out of road!" he was so caught into his speed, that he didn't see the end of the bridge just ahead of him. Luckily he opened the parachutes and stopped his car in time.

Sonic, on the other hand, continued to run and went...Over the unfinished bridge!

All the beautiful mixture of lights were a breath taking sight for Sonic. This world...was too different from his own, but not in a bad way. This world was just as beautiful.

"Maybe this place isn't so bad…." Sonic turned to look over his shoulder "….at least I know someone, who I can have fun with."

"_I have to find my friends and make sure that they are alright and unharmed!_"

Suddenly, Sonic's deep train of thought was broken when gravity made its presence; pulling the poor hedgehog down from his earlier harmless air gliding. And before the blue hedgehog knew it, he landed with a loud;

SPLASH!

...in a freakin' pool!

Sierra woke up with a start. What was that? She looked around her room, nothing was out of the ordinary. Had she imagined it?

Blinking back sleep and rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand, Sierra slowly risen from the comfort of her bed and stumbled slightly over to her window. Looking through the cool-feeling-glass-against-her-forehead, she was greeted with the bright glow of the family pool. And a strong rippling of water, which proved something, fell into it.

"_Oh no!"_ Sierra snapped awake, eyes wide, _"What if it's the silly cat, from next-door, again? The kitty almost died the first time he fell into the pool!" _

Spinning on her heels, Sierra rushed out of her room and down the stairs, all the while trying to be as quiet as she can. She didn't even put on her robe, or her slippers for that matter. She was only left with her, silky and short electric coloured pink, night dress. In no time, she reached the twin glass doors that would lead to the backyard, and more importantly, the pool!

Pulling the door open with the lightest of trouble, how she was more awake than her body, Sierra jogged over to the pool's edge and scanned the water, searching for the fallen kitty**. **

"_There!"_ She thought as she spotted something blue and sluggish movement; whether it was, thanks to the water, or the fact that whoever it is, was, most likely running out of air. Sierra prayed it was still alive, before jumping in, diving deep to the bottom of the pool to reach the blue form.

Swimming the rest of the way down, she snatched what she guessed was the arm to the animal. Her grip tightened as she swam back to the surface. _"Man, this animal is pretty heavy..."_ Sierra thought as she swam.

In no time, Sonic was pulled out of the water completely, hacking a bit from accidentally swallowing the pool's water. He felt the hand on his wrist being moved to his back, running up and down it soothingly, almost lulling Sonic to a peaceful state.

Sierra was beyond shocked at what she pulled out of the pool. But seeing as the poor animal was coughing, because of swallowing the pools water, she ignored that the animal had blue fur…wasn't so small….and was wearing white gloves and red sneakers!

"That was close, hope you're alright thou." She said still rubbing the animals back gently.

"I'm fine, thanks' a lot" the animal said. Sierra wasn't expecting the animal to talk.

"Y-you can talk?" God, she sounded so pathetic. The animal only…..smiled?

"Yes, I can talk" the animal said softly. That voice….it sounded so familiar, but where had she heard it before?

"Well, that's cool…that you can talk I mean" Sierra said shyly. Well the animal doesn't look dangerous, because of those emerald eyes of his, he looks, well….nice.

"My name is Sierra, do you have a name?" she decided to ask. The smile on the animals face only grew bigger.

"Of course I have a name…."

"….My name is Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog."

* * *

Well here you go. The two of them finally met. I'm already doing the next chapter so wait and see what happens next. And REVIEW! =]

Love, Amethyst


	5. Mission: Area 99

The morning after the incident in the pool at midnight, Sierra found herself out on the balcony, talking to her mother on the phone.

"_Oh, Sierra, my dear I don't know what to do next, that young singer 'Selen' in now more popular than me. Do you know how hard I worked to be where I am today?" _her mother's voice called through the phone, sounding worried. Sierra felt bad for taking her mothers place in 'show business' but what could she do if the people loved her songs more than her mothers?

"Mom, I'm really sorry it turned out like this, but you know people these days, they love the young singers-…not that you're old or anything, well it's just show business, you should know that by now." Sierra replied, smiling a bit nervously.

"_I know, I know but still….ah, I'm sorry sweetheart, I'm just a little disappointed, that's all._"

"It's alright, I understand, mom."

"_Oh, well I'll think of something eventually. Darling I'm sorry I can't talk to you any longer, I have a meeting in fifteen minutes, I'll call you some other day, is that alright?_"

"Yes, yes its fine, mom, good luck and goodbye."

"_Bye, darling._" That done, she hung up the phone with a light blush now on her cheeks. Her mom was weird, but she still loved her.

"Family trouble?" Sierra turned to see Sonic standing by the balcony doors. Was he standing there all along?

"Oh, yes, you could say that." Sierra was still getting used to the idea of talking with an animal. "Are you feeling well?"

Sonic smiled one of his famous cocky grins, replying, "Yes, I'm alright, so don't worry so much."

"Oh, well that's nice to hear." The girl didn't know what to do next. Tell her parents about the hedgehog. No! No way. What was she thinking? Maybe tell Elora, she will understand…or maybe not, tell Ella, of her grandfather? What on earth was she suppose to do?

"Listen, Sonic, you and I, are the only ones home at this moment, and you mentioned to me yesterday that your friends maybe somewhere in this town, so let's go and see what the News has to say for today, maybe someone found your friends?" That would be a start at least.

"Lead the way" Sonic said. He looked calm now, but inside he was eager to go and look for his friends. He won't rest until he is sure that they are all safe.

Soon the two of them were sitting on the couch in the leaving room watching the News. It's a good thing that today was Saturday and all the maids had a day off. With grandpa being at work and Ella is grocery shopping the whole house was empty.

"_Due to incredible speed__, it's difficult to make out the image. Here are interviews with the people who were on the scene..."_

_"It's about this big, bl__ue, and looked like a hedgehog."_ Said a chubby cop, showing the height with his hand that showed about it being higher then his waist line.

_"It went really fast, it passed by me going "screeeech" that way!"_ Spoke a civilian still in his own car, moving his hand past his face in a speedy show to state his point.

_"I'm not kidding! I think it was going faster then Mach Five!"_ A chubby civilian, leaning against his own car, spoke seriously, yet still sceptical.

_"Well, it could be a 'U.M.A.'"_ started a skinny scientist who held a hyper monkey that had a fetish with the man's glasses, _"If you're wondering if it can be a being from earth, then... my answer is 'no.' The fastest animal is a cheetah but they don't run faster than a car. An animal with such speed does not exist."_

"Sonic, may I ask something…just **how** fast can you run?" came Sierra's curious voice over the TV's volume.

_"It would be easier to simply think it's a machine,"_ the same scientist finished.

"Well, would you believe me if I say that I'm faster than the speed of sound." Sonic turned to look at Sierra's reaction, while hiding a smile that wanted to appear on his lips.

"…..that's…incredible" was Sierra's dry reply. Not only did this creature could talk, but he also could run faster than the speed of sound! Sierra really didn't know should she be scared, or impressed.

"I'm sorry that's just so hard to believe-….."

"…-you apologise too much, I'm not mad you know."

"Sorry I'm-…."

"Sierra."

Sierra decided to stay quiet and watch the News instead, before she accidentally says something that she'll regret later. After fifteen minutes of silence the sound of the door to her right being shoved open quickly caught her interest.

"Did you hear, Sierra?" an old man cheerfully shouted, running into the room like a child would on Christmas morning, "They said that what could most likely outrun the S-Team was some kind of machine!"

Suddenly looking down at the blue critter at the girl's side that the older man had over looked when first barging in, the look of shock surprise wasn't far off from his features. Looking from the hedgehog to the TV, and back again.

The old man slowly scanned Sonic over. Starting from head and moving down to his spiked tail, he slowly whispered out loud, "Blue... Looks like a hedgehog..." A gasp passed his lips as he straightened from his leaning position over the hedgehog, before a second, and louder gasp rose as a wide smile curved on his lips.

As quickly as he entered, the old man pounced on Sonic, wrapping his arms around the other to keep the blue hedgehog from escaping. Sierra scooted back a bit, not wanting to get involved. Wasn't he supposed to be at work? What was she suppose to say now? Her grandpa is a scientist for crying out loud! What will she say 'Hey grandpa, this is my new toy, you know what, a strange creature was seen yesterday and he looks like my toy, whoa what a coincidence?' Sierra began to panic.

"Hey-hey-hey! Wait!" Sonic snapped, trying to shove the elder man away but failing badly.

From out of nowhere, the man pulled out a screw driver, holding it up for all to see as it sparkled like some holy item. Smirking to himself, the old man went straight away to trying to find the "machine's" screws to open it and see how it was made.

"What is this thing made of..?" the elder mused to himself aloud.

"AH! Stop!" Sonic yelped, a look of utter discomfort falling over his features as he continued to try and struggle out of the man's relentless grasp. And luckily for him, this time, the blue hedgehog was able to achieve just that, what with the man's other hand being too busy trying to poke holes into his flesh. Jumping high, the disturbed hedgehog landed safely around the table that kept him separate from that crazy old man. Are all humans, that crazy?

Shocked at first, the older man quickly snapped out of it as he pointed his screw driver in the other's direction, demanding, "Hey, don't run away!" in a challenging voice.

"Grandpa, please…." Sierra decided to save the hedgehog.

"He's..." Sierra started again, "Sonic isn't a machine. He is a living, breathing creature."

The old man stood up from his position on the couch, screw driver forgotten as it slipped through his fingers from the shock of this newfound information. Silence greeted the room. And thanks to this newfound silence, the TV was once again dominating the living room.

_"Stay away, please!"_ came a gentle voice of a little girl, _"Please!" _

_"Chao!"_

"Huh?" Sonic blinked; shocked to hear a familiar voice. Turning sharply to the TV, Sonic glared at the picture that presented itself.

_"Please, stay away!"_ the same girl cried, hugging a blue creature close to her as she shivered in fear, sitting on top of a bulletin board that promoted some soda pop.

"Its Cream and Cheese!" Sonic gasped out.

"That's your friends?" Sierra asked.

"So I wasn't the only one who came to this world..." Sonic whispered to himself aloud, a determined look crossing his features, totally ignoring everyone else in the room. "All right, wait for me!" he suddenly announced to the girl on the TV, quickly making his way out of the manor with great speed.

Sierra made a quick dash towards the front door. She called after the disappearing form of the blue hedgehog, yelling, "Do you even know where it is?" She wasn't sure if the hedgehog had heard her, or not.

Sonic skidded to a stop only to quickly dash back towards the girl. It was only until he reached Sierra once more did the blue hedgehog stop, finally, shrugging with a silly grin on his face.

Sierra could only blink. Never again will she doubt Sonic's speed abilities.

In the garage where Sierra's grandfather, now known as Greg, had most of his knickknacks of inventions, reminding Sonic greatly of his missing two tailed little brother. Sighing in great thought, the old man started off with his plans to help the hedgehog save his friends. Sierra was greatly surprised that her grandpa had taken the news of a talking hedgehog so easily. She still wasn't so sure if they could trust the animal.

"Alright," he began, talking on the phone with one of his old friends he had asked for help, "Yes, that'll be helpful. Thank you so much." Putting down the phone, Sonic turned away from one of the many devices in the garage to give the elder his full attention to see what the man had picked up. "The police said they were transferred to Area 99."

"_Area 99, but of course where ells would they take them_" Sierra thought.

"What's Area 99?" Sonic questioned, not liking the sound of that.

"It's a military laboratory, National Defence Force with tanks, armed cars, and other weapons." Greg explained.

"_Almost sounds like Eggman's place._" Sonic thought.

"To be taken to the military's laboratory means that they want to research them," Greg returning full attention to himself, "Like aliens from outer space or-" looking down at Sonic's curious green orbs, "some kind of biological weapon that another country developed. But what really happens there, eh?"

"Think what you want, now that I know where my friends are, I will be going."

Marching his way to the exit of the garage, Greg's worried words followed after him quickly, "But if you do that, they'll catch you, too."

"They can't catch me if they can't match up to my speed." With that, the blue hedgehog turned to leave, only to find the garage door close in front of his face. Growling deep in his throat, an annoyed look crossing his usual carefree features, Sonic snapped his head around as he snapped at Greg. "What're you doing?"

"You won't make it" Greg said simply. "You will need help, from someone who knows that place…..like me."

"Wh-hat?" Sierra finally said something. It was odd how she was stuck with the oddest family members... Even if most of them were always away, working.

"Your going to, dear, it's not like you have anything better to do anyway." Greg said smirking at his granddaughter's dumbfounded expression.

Sonic could only smile and quietly reply "Thank you."

The sun beamed down hotly around them, but the breeze made by the rushing wind around them that freely hit them thanks to the topless, and sleek, car kept them at a reasonable temperature. The desert around them was very plain, boring both Sonic and Sierra. But they kept quiet and didn't complain.

"Oh, I hope that Cream and Cheese are alright" Sonic finally announced, arms crossed as he sat in the back seat of the car. Turning to look back at the worried hedgehog, Greg happily smiled as he spoke in a just as carefree tone, "Don't worry the humans wont harm them."

Sierra was quiet this whole time. She still couldn't believe all of this. Just a couple of days ago, she was living a double life as a normal kid with 'normal' problems and a famous pop-star singer, hardly even speaking with her parents and grandpa, for that matter, and hanging out only with Elora and now she is in the middle of a desert with her grandpa, helping a talking blue hedgehog to save his friends?

This is a dream. It has to be. She was really tired from one of her many concerts and fell asleep and now she is having this dream. It's not real…..right?

"Sierra?" She instantly snapped back to reality. "Yes?"

"Are you alright?" Sonic decided to ask after noticing the far away look on the girls face.

Good question. Was she really alright? She wasn't so sure anymore.

"Put this on" Greg interrupted the two, as he handed Sonic a strange device. "What is it?" Sonic questioned.

"An infrared scope," spoke Greg, not even bothering to keep his eyes on the empty road. "Most likely, in Area 99 there will be plenty of traps," the old man began to explain, "But if you use that, you should be able to avoid them."

Without saying anything else, Sonic quickly understood. As he placed it onto his face, it covered his right ear and eye, making it so half of his vision was now in red. Ignoring that, the blue hedgehog gave Greg a thumb up, before calmly turning his attention to unbuckling the seatbelt. Once off, Sonic easily jumped out of the car, and landed onto the road next to the stylish car, running right next to it, he called out a polite, "Thank you!" to Greg, before turning to the girl.

"Sierra" he called the girl. As she turned to him, Sonic smiled and winked at her. "Smile."

With that, the hedgehog kicked up the speed, dashing faster and out of distance before anything else could be said, a trail of dust the only thing left of their furry friend.

Sierra only blinked. Smile? If only it was that easy for her to smile. To **really** smile. Not just another plastic stage smile. She wasn't so sure anymore if she could still do that. In her real life she was nothing but an "Ice Princess" and on the stage she was nothing but a "Gorgeous Diva" put the two together and you'll get an 'Ice Diva'. Now who would want to be around a person like that? What does Elora see in her, Sierra honestly didn't know. And probably never will.

_"Can you hear me, Sonic?"_

Sonic heard Greg's voice as he ran thru the desert towards the base. "Yeah!" He quickly responded.

_"When you get in, head of the air vents,"_ Greg instructed. _"From there, you should be able to pass security."_ There was a slight pause, before Greg ended, _"Got it?"_

"Got it!"

Increasing his speed once more, Sonic dashed quickly towards the tall fence of Area 99, jumping over it with ease and speeding so quickly that the cameras were unable to get a shot of him. Still, even despite his speed, a warning sound could be heard, chiming _"__**Intruder detected**__."_ Smirking proudly at his handy work, Sonic continued to run without faltering, spotting the said air vents Greg had spoken of. Without slowing down, Sonic made a mad dive for it, easily slipping in.

"I'm inside the air vents!" Sonic announced as he slid down bellow, deeper into the building.

"_Roger_"

Sonic landed hard, crashing down on the metal that made the air vent. Rubbing his spiky tail, the blue hedgehog mumbled, "Now that hurt..." Ignoring his sore rump, Sonic turned his attention back to the mission, talking to himself as he said, "Well, now, let's see..."

With the red vision, Sonic was able to see the millions of red lasers that would activate the real alarm at the slightest touch. There was NO way he'd be able to squeeze though those without blowing his cover!

"I hope Sonic will find his friends and come out of there safe." Greg spoke to himself, as he pulled the car to a stop, looking over Area 99 from a high cliff.

Sierra stayed quiet. Well she wasn't a cold-hearted girl, she to hoped that the blue hedgehog will make it out alright, along with his friends, even thou she still didn't trust Sonic.

Just as Sonic finally reached his destination, he was hit with another problem. How in the world was he going to get in there without being noticed!

Luckily for him, he didn't have to take too long to figure out a plan. The lights died without warning, alarming the men in white suits as they panicked and wondered what had caused the black out, completely forgetting the bunny and her chao friend. Taking this as his chance, Sonic snuck in without trouble, making his way towards Cream and Cheese.

Smashing the glass to free the two, Sonic quickly grabbed them and hid, listening as the men panicked even more at the noise.

"What was that?" one of them said.

"I don't know, the lights disappeared, what happened?"

"Soni-!" Cream cried happily, but cut off quickly as Sonic made a harsh, "shh!...Be quiet Creamy." He whispered.

But the effort was lost to Cheese, who happily cued in its own language, jumping up to wrap its little arms around Sonic's neck as it rubbed it's baby blue face up against Sonic's own. Despite the seriousness and need to quickly flee from the place, Sonic couldn't help but smile at the little chaos antics. That is until another man's voice shouted at the noise.

"Who's there?"

"Let's run," Sonic whispered to Cream, handing Cheese to her and grabbing her hand.

"Okay" she nodded obediently. Sonic ran no where near as fast as he usually went, but enough to keep the two out of danger from those scientists.

Running down the now dark hallway, Cream finally felt it safe to talk with no one else near.

"Did you do this, big brother?" she questioned with a smile, happy to be with her 'big brother' again.

"No, Creamy, it wasn't me," Sonic responded truthfully, smiling despite it, "I can't do that much. It just happened."

Giggling breathlessly, from the run, Cream spoke, "Maybe it happened, because you bring good luck everywhere you go."

Just to spite them, though, the lights, including the power to Area 99, shot back alive, the sudden surprise stopping the two in their tracks. Especially when those cameras that were now trained on them.

"I shouldn't have said anything-" Cream started, feeling suddenly guilty for their sudden predicament.

"You have nothing to do with it," Sonic reassured in a calming voice, but refused to turn his green eyes away from the problem at hand. Which was a good thing, for if he had, he might have missed it, as the cameras opened up a secret compartment that held an odd looking device within? Recognizing that certain device, thanks to countless encounters with Eggman, Sonic hissed out, "Oh no! Let's go!"

Cream dint had any time to respond as Sonic dragged her along once again. Good thing, too, for if they had waited another minute, one of those white light laser raises would of hit the two easily. But Sonic paid little attention to that, keeping his full focus on getting the hell out of this building, alive, with Cream and Cheese.

Outside of Area 99, from on top of the cliff, Sierra broke out of her thoughts as soon as the alarms had blared though the air, reaching their own ears clearly. Worry etched its way a crossed Greg's features at this, pulling the device to contact Sonic on quickly.

"Sonic! What happened?" Greg called "Are you all right?"

_"__Well, yes…no… not really!"_ Sonic's voice rang through, along with faint sounds of lasers firing in the background. _"Run!"_ he spoke to someone else, most likely the girl they were there to save in the first place.

"What happened in there?" Greg questioned himself. He was worried, because if the humans catch them, who know what will they do to them. He is a scientist, he knows what they do to experimental animals, but in this situation, God only know what could happen to them.

Sierra just sat there, keeping her gaze on the base. This whole time, she was trying to stay positive, but now it was slowly shattering. What if they got caught? Or hurt, or…

Sierra shook her head. "_Don't go all negative now, they will be fine…..I hope._"

Suddenly, a blue plane appeared and begun to circle the base.

"_Odd, that doesn't look like a military plane_" she thought. Just then, two figures jumped out from the base and landed on the plane's wings.

"Hey, buddy!" Sonic called in greeting, ignoring the fact that they were laying helplessly on the plane's wing.

"Hi guys!" the little fox chirped back, one hand raised in a wave.

"I see! It was you!" Cream announced happily, smiling over at the second youngest of their group.

Winking at the youth, the fox spoke, "Hold on tight and try not to fall!"

Flying over Greg's car, two pair of eyes were trained on the blue plane. Sierra was happy everything had worked out fine. Her grandfather spoke up.

"Well mission: Area 99 is complete, shall we get going?"

"We better, before anyone see us here" Sierra said leaning into her seat. Well that was an interesting experience.

Back in Greg's garage, the same blue plane lay innocently in the parking lot, just outside. Inside, Sierra and Greg were finally able to meet Sonic's three companions and friends.

Sierra won't say it out loud, but to her the little fox and rabbit were simply adorable.

"My name is Tails" the two tailed fox announced with a carefree smile.

"I'm Cream," the bunny spoke sweetly, before introducing her little companion, "And this is my friend, Cheese." Together, the two bowed respectfully as the chimed, "Please to meet you!"

"The pleasure is all mine" Sierra breathed, bowing along with them, "Nice to meet you. Oh, and I'm Sierra by the way" Looking over their heads, Sierra announced, "And this is my grandpa. Gregory or 'Greg' for short."

"Incredible," whispered Greg in amazement, holding a small paper-styled-plane, "I never saw such a remote-controlled airplane."

Turning around to face the old man, Tails finally showed some pride as he tried to shrug off the complement. "Those are nothing special," the fox spoke, both tails wagging happily.

"Hey, Sonic..." Tails suddenly spoke, winning the attention of everyone in the room, "You, me, Cream, and Cheese all got caught in that accident, which means... Maybe the others were also sent into this world?"

"I hope that Knuckles, Rouge and Amy are here in this world as well..." Sonic spoke aloud in thought, hand raised under his chin.

Suddenly, a reminder of the old madman flashed through his mind, along with the Chaos Emeralds.

"Eggman" Sonic said simply. Did he came to this world to?

Somewhere on a small, unimportant island, a tall tower now stood, a robot floating above it to keep watch for any enemies or possible danger. Within the tower, a large round man sat, along with two other robots; one tall and skinny, the other short and stumpy.

"Oooh," hummed the bald man in red, "Chaos Control, broth us here. In this world I'll build my Eggman Kingdom. And soon, we'll conquer other worlds!"

Breaking out into smug laughter, Dr. Eggman started his plan for world domination.

* * *

There you go, please enjoy.

Thank you for your reviews. I've taking care off the '_swearing_' problem, you were right, I over did it. Thank you for telling me. (kisses)

Well here's the new Chapter. I have a lot of free time on my hands at this moment, so I'll write faster.

Till next time =] REVIEW…

Love, Amethyst


	6. The Precious Green Gem

It was an early Monday morning. Sierra had just woke up and was getting ready for school. The house was empty, except for her and Ella, who was making breakfast for her in the kitchen. Sonic and his friend were in the garage with Greg, so no one would see them.

Usually by now, Greg would be half way to his science lab in town, but he decided to 'bring work home' and work at home instead of going to the lab everyday. But Sierra knew that he only wanted to be home because he wanted to know more about Sonic and his friends. If they weren't here, he also wouldn't be here at this moment.

What a loving family she has…everybody is on his own….fantastic…

Sierra got dressed. She put her hair up, a black ribbon hanging from the bun, put on a sleeveless white blouse and black tie, accentuated with white silk ribbons that tightened the blouse to her sides. The skirt had white shorts beneath and a black skirt hung over, white summer boots protecting her feet.

She looked in the mirror. Perfect! Now the only thing is left is breakfast and she can dash out of here to school.

Sierra also kept having a feeling, deep down, that something was about to happen. And whatever it was, would _not_ be a good thing. But _what_? That was the problem...

She shook her head. No time for this nonsense she had school to attend.

Somewhere in the city, in a basket ball court, young boys played. Shoes scuffed and squeaked as they ran and came to sudden halts, all trying to get the ball and through it into the hoops. A few gave breathless laughs, others scoffed and huffed, too busy wanting to win then to enjoy themselves fully. But none of that really mattered. What mattered was what was hidden under the sewer plate just in the centre of their ball court.

For just bellow their game, a pink hedgehog wearing a red dress silently walked thru the dreadful sewers.

"_Oh, I can't take it anymore. I'm tired, hungry and I don't know where in the world am I!_" the girl thought. The poor girl woke up all alone just outside the city yesterday. She didn't see any of her friends, but she saw something she never thought she would see…..

….A city with….humans.

She never saw humans before, except for Eggman, and she was pleased that they didn't look like him. They looked, well, to her some of them looked nice, some kind off mad and unfriendly, and some gorgeous and handsome. She really wanted to get to know them, but she thought she better not to. They probably never saw a creature like her before, so she won't risk getting them angry. She had to find her friends, that is, if they are here, in this world. She really hoped that they were here, safe and sound.

"_If I don't find anything to eat soon, I'll pass out!_" she continued her lonely walk once again.

With nothing to do, Tails was allowed to watch TV in Greg's room, above his garage. Flipping through channels, Tails was shocked when it changed to the News, showing a tall, but stumpy looking robot destroying the city. An odd looking man was also there, sitting comfortably in a round machine that floated in the air, giving the robot orders every now and then. People screamed through the television, running away as far as they could from this destructive machine.

"_It's…its Eggman!_" the fox jumped to his feet in shock. So, Sonic was right, that egg-head did teleport to this world with them.

"I've got to tell Sonic."

"Sonic!" Tails cried out, making his two friends and one old man, turn their attention away from what they were doing to look at the little fox.

"What is it buddy?" Sonic questioned, still washing his blue plane, but attention fully on his little brother in front of him.

"Big trouble, Eggman is attacking the city!" he almost yelled.

"Who?" Greg asked.

"Dr. Robotnik." Sonic replied in a serious tone.

Amy had been walking for hours now. She didn't know where was she going, but she figured it's best to go where there are less humans around, for her own safety.

Suddenly, a loud pounding was heard from above, shaking the ground she walked. Gasping from shock, Amy turned her head up to the source of the noise, seeing a pothole that could lead her out of the darkness. Running to the metal ladder, she climbed up to see what had happened. When she saw the big robot destroying the city she gasped in shock.

"_That's Eggman's robot! Oh no, he's here to…_"

A bunch of police cars surrounded the robot, in hopes of stopping it from destroying more buildings.

"Hold it right there, take one more step and we'll open fire!" said the police captain. The robot however didn't stop, he continued to walk toward them.

"Fire!" the captain yelled and his team opened fire immediately. The bullets didn't even leave a scratch on the robots armour. Eggman, who was hovering over the robot in his flying machine, sighed in boredom.

"There's a word for this….**boring**."

The policemen tried to use a fire gun on the robot, but his armour was to strong, even for the dangerous flames. Eggman laughed at there failure.

"Face it, you cannot win. I can clobber you klutzes at will, now roll over, or get ran over."

"You won't get away with this!

Eggman only smirked "Give them what they deserve." He commanded his robot.

Inside of Station Square's Elementary School, Sierra, along with her friends, Danny and Frances, sat in their usual spots as childish voices filled the air. Chatter of nothing and everything could be heard, including the two at Sierra's table. But the brunette mostly ignored this, too busy reading a book... well, she was **trying** to read anyway, but everyone was just so freaking loud!

"Say, Sierra, did you see the News?" Frances spoke suddenly to the brunette, interrupting her thoughts. Blinking back at her in confusion, she gave a light nod, keeping her voice soft with a gentle, "Yes..."

She wasn't really interested about what they saw on the News, something about Sonic, she guest.

"And?..." Frances pushed on "You didn't saw the blue hedgehog, which suddenly appeared out of nowhere and outran the S-Team?"

Yes, they will be talking for weeks about this, if not longer. Sierra sighed and turned the page in her book. She didn't want to talk about the hedgehog at all. She had been avoiding him and his friends yesterday, when they woke up she was long gone, leaving only a note for Ella, saying she went to see a friend, when really, she went to Jack, to practise for her upcoming concert. She still didn't trust the animals. Well yes they were…cute, but what really does she knows about them? Nothing.

"I think it's fake, just a silly TV prank, or something" Sierra said absentmindedly.

"You are kidding right, how-…"

Suddenly, the classroom's door was pushed open, the principle entering the class along with another man in a blue suit. "I have an announcement, everyone," the principle spoke, voice deep and hoarse, "The one in charge of this class, Ms. Westerly, will be taking a leave of absence, therefore she will not be with you for the remainder of this semester." Cries of shock and wonder filled the room, while Frances and Danny gave each other curious looks. The stubby man continued despite that. "In any case, please say hello to, Mr. Stuart, who will be your substitute."

Smiling charmingly, the blond man in blue, Mr. Stuarts, greeted, "Hello children!"

"Hello, Mr. Stuart." the voices of children echoed together, but a little off from sounding as one all together. Silently, with the other students' attentions straying away from their new teacher, Mr. Stuart's violet eyes slithered their way over to Sierra's table, watching the brunette with an almost sinister gaze.

Sierra saw that and immediately looked away, looking at her book once again. "_Alright, now __**that**__ was freaky! I only know him for two minutes and already I don't like him. This is going to be a __**long**__ semester_."

"He looks nice, doesn't he Sierra?" Frances asked in her sweet voice. Sierra smiled nervously. "_No, not really_."

"Yes" she said quietly.

The bell had rung, giving the students the signal to go to lunch break. As they left, Sierra found herself standing outside her class room, waiting for Frances who was taking her time in their class doing... something. Danny had already left, saying that he's going to find them an empty table in the cafeteria. Sighing, Sierra finally called, "Frances are you ready yet, what's taking you so long?"

"Uh... just a minute, Sierra!" Frances voice called back, making Sierra roll her eyes in annoyance. For a tomboy, she sure takes her girly time.

Suddenly, the feeling of someone standing right behind her made Sierra look over her shoulder. There, standing very tall, and oddly enough very handsome, was their new teacher, Mr. Stuart.

Sierra almost jumped back in shock…almost.

"Sierra Katelyn Edwards." The name was spoke like it was the most special word in the world, and by such a gentle, deep voice, it was almost just as beautiful. But as he continued, the new words sounded less magical, only making Sierra crinkle in displeasure. "Your father, world's famous actor and movie star, James Edwards. Your mother a popular pop-singer, Jenifer Lovett."

"And... what about it..?" Sierra spoke softly, slowly, uncertain on where this man was heading.

"Oh no, I'm just a fan of your mother's work and greatly honoured to be teaching you," he replied, leaning down a bit to Sierra's level.

"Is... that so..?" the brunette replied weakly, still feeling uncomfortable with this man. Run before you can! Told a voice in her head. Talking one-on-one with teachers, always leads to trouble!

"I'm pleased to meet you, Sierra," Mr. Stuart said, raising a hand to shake the girls in a proper greeting.

Looking at the hand for only a second, Sierra quickly shakes hands with the man. Returning to gaze up into the blonde man's violet eyes, Sierra responded, "Me, too."

Pulling back and standing fully tall once more, Mr. Stuart suddenly asked, "By the way, this might sound strange, but do you have a favourite animal?"

Sierra really wanted to laugh at that very moment. What is it with people today? It's like the whole town knows that she is hiding an anthropomorphic animals in her mansion.

"Um….that would be cats, sir." She said honestly. It was the truth; her favorite animals were lions, tigers, pumas all who belong to the cat family.

"Oooh?" Mr. Stuart's expression never changed despite the tone in his voice, sounding like a mix between curious and silently hoping to hear something other than the 'cat' answer.

Feeling insecure at this, Sierra nervously asked, "What? Is it strange to like cats?"

"Oh no, not at all!" Mr. Stuart replied, voice sounding kind and gentle as he gave her a winning smile.

"Sierra!" France's voice suddenly yelled through the air, the girl running out of the class room _**finally**_. "Sierra, I'm sorry for keeping you waiting!"

Smiling at her friend, who 'saved' her from the teacher, Sierra turned her attention back up to Mr. Stuart as she quickly wheedled her way away from the man, "Well then, goodbye Mr. Stuart!" As they ran down the hall. Well, that was sure an awkward talk.

_A child giggles. Playing mischievously.__ A beautiful doll, with a gorgeous red dress in the child's arms. _

_Then suddenly a sharp pain, a child's cries for help, wanting its mother's warmth. But no one's there. The child is alone. _

_More cries, more tears, more pain. But no one notices. No one, except for the doll…the broken doll. _

_They had been separated for so long, so long__ that the child has forgotten what the doll look like. _

_But deep down, no memories have gone. __None have vanished._

_The pain is gone, but another one, even greater than the other, still remains, deep down…. _

_And one voice screams….__And that voice was so close, so near, so... _

"Sierra?"

Snapping out of her day dreamed state; Sierra turned her attention over to her friend, Danny, who sat next to her in the cafeteria. Chatter filled the room just as it did that morning in their class room, if not louder now without having to be quiet for a teacher's lesson. And where did Frances go?

Sierra put a shaky hand to her face. What was that she just saw? That never happened before, not to mention in the middle of the day.

"Sierra, are you alright?" Danny asked after seeing Sierra's pale face.

"Yes, yes I'm alright, just tired." She lied. Danny let it slip, strangely, and decided to ask her, something he was curious about.

"Frances mentioned that you talked with, Mr. Stuart. What did he want from you?" Danny continued to speak, his green eyes never removing from Sierra's pale face. It was odd that their new teacher would suddenly talk to a student so soon, especially on their first day. What could Mr. Stuart see in Sierra that needed to be confronted right before lunch time?

"Oh..." Sierra wasn't in the mood to talk about this but she replied, "He wanted to know my favourite animal."

"Really?" blinking in shock, Danny turned away from the brunette to face his lunch, adding a faint, "How strange..."

"_No, strange is that I'm having some kind of freaky dream in the middle of the day, strange is that everyone wants to speak to me about animals today, and this whole situation is just STRANGE!_" Sierra thought to herself.

"Sorry it took me so long guys" Frances returned from…wherever she was and sat next to Sierra.

Danny merely murmured a 'whatever' and continued his lunch. Frances simply rolled her eyes at his behaviour and turned to Sierra, who looked even paler now.

"Sierra, are you alright, maybe you should go see the nurse" Frances suggested after noticing her friends condition. Sierra shook her head, obviously disagreeing with her friend.

"No, I'm just tir-…." Suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her head. She clutched her head and stood up quickly.

"Alright I'm going." She said and left the cafeteria quickly before her friends said anything more. After seeing the nurse, she was free to go home and rest. The nurse said she was just overtired and needed rest.

Sierra walked thru the streets, not really paying attention to anything. She just wanted to go home and sleep.

"_This day can't get any worse for me_" she thought with a sigh.

Sonic and Tails had already reached the city in their plane 'Tornado' and saw what damage Eggman had done to the city.

"This is horrible" said Tails as he looked at the city below.

"He'll pay for this." Sonic seethed through his teeth. They soon found Eggman, demolishing yet another building. Sonic jumped from the plane and landed gracefully on one of the building. Without wasting anymore time, he ran towards Eggman, jumping from building to building.

Amy had managed to sneak into one dark alley without anyone noticing. She found an old cloth and used it to cover herself, that way she will be able to go thru the streets and the people will think that she is a human child and not an animal.

Suddenly there was an explosion on the other side of the ally. Not sure what ells to do, Amy ran towards the explosion. There she was met with Dr. Eggman and his crazy robot. She quickly hid behind a trash can before he saw her. She listened to his conversation with his fellow robots.

"Have you located the Chaos Emerald yet, Decoe?" the Doctor said.

"_The humans found a lot of precious stones at the department store construction site, maybe the Emerald is there_"

"Alright I'll look there."

Amy gasped softly after hearing this. So the Chaos Emerald was here, somewhere in this city, and Eggman is out to get it. She knew she wouldn't be able to stop Eggman on her own, but she can reach the Emerald before him.

"_I have to act fast_" She got up and ran back thru the alley to find the construction site.

Sierra was passing the construction site when suddenly another wave of pain hit her. She clutched her head and leaned on the nearest building, closing her eyes tight.

"_Oh, not again, what's wrong with me._" She opened her eyes and saw a green flash of light from the corner of her eye. She turned to the light, still holding one hand to her head. The light had disappeared and Sierra was now curious at were it came from. She walked to the fence and saw a faint green glow coming from the ground in the construction site.

Turning to see if no one was around, she climbed over the fence and carefully walked towards the glowing object. As she came closer, she saw that it was a gem stone. And a big one at that. A few others were scattered all around the ground, but they looked nothing like the big precious gem stone, which was lying just a step away from her.

Something was pulling her towards the beautiful gem, as if telling her to take it with her. But it wasn't hers, she shouldn't even be here. But curiosity got the better of her and she picked up the green gem.

_A dark, dark place. Cold and dreadful…. __soft green glow coming from somewhere in the room._

_A tall man with glasses and a white coat.…_

_A large glass tube that stood up to the ceiling; it was filled with green, bubbling liquid…._

_A __blurry form of some sort of creature….._

_Two figures near a big glass window….mix of colours blue, green, white….red, lot's of red….._

Sierra gasped and dropped the gem. What was that? Was it another stupid little 'dream?'

Cold sweat covered her forehead as she gasped for air. It never happened to her before. What was these 'dreams,' 'visions?'

Sierra decided to take this gem to her grandpa, maybe he'll tell if it's an ordinary stone, or perhaps something more. She picked up the gem and put it in her backpack. Just as she was about to leave, she saw another green gem. It somehow looked like the one in her backpack, only a bit smaller and it wasn't as green as the other one. She picked it up and examined it.

"It's fake, but still beautiful." She said out loud.

"Ah, thank you for finding my Emerald, little girl." Sierra jumped slightly. She was caught and she didn't even hear anyone coming behind her. She looked over her shoulder and her eyes widened in shock. Behind her, was an ugly looking fat man, sitting in some kind off floating machine.

Sierra took a step back in fear. Who was this crazy man?

"Well, girl, give me my Emerald and I'll be on my way." Sierra looked at the fake stone in her hand. Why would he want a fake stone, its useless. Unless, he isn't looking for **this** stone, more like for…..

"Come on, girl, my patience is running out!" the man gritted through his strained teeth.

"Get away from her, Egg-head!"

Just as Eggman turned to look at the source of the voice, he was knocked down on the ground by a large hammer. A pink hedgehog jumped in front of Sierra, holding another large hammer in her hands.

"You…you….what are **you** doing in **this** world?" Eggman shouted, already feeling bad enough.

"It's your fault, like always, when you're around it's always trouble." The hedgehog replied, holding the hammer tight in her hands.

"I've had enough of this. Missile-wrist, dispose of them!" Eggman commanded.

"Run, get out of here!" the pink hedgehog told Sierra. Sierra looked at the giant robot that came their way and shook her head.

"You won't win against that thing! Let's get out of here before we still can!"

"No, you-…."

"….-look out!" Sierra shouted, but it was too late. The robot grabbed the pink hedgehog and held her tight in his metal hand. Sierra took a step forward but was stopped by Eggman.

"Don't make a move, girl!" Eggman's voice cut through, floating quickly to stand between Sierra and the pink hedgehog, who was now held tightly in the robot's grasp. Doing as the fat man commanded, he continued, "Or his hand will squeeze a little bit more..." As if to demonstrate, the older man snapped his fingers, cuing the robot to prove his point as it, indeed, squeeze Amy harder.

"Nooo! OW!" she cried, feeling the sudden pain of bones wanting to break.

Sierra gritted her teeth, not knowing what to do without putting the pink hedgehog's life in any more danger then it already was. "You coward!" she finally yelled, "Let the girl go!"

"Coward you say?" Eggman repeated, still grinning despite the insult "I like your attitude, and what would be the name if this fearless young lady?"

"Like I'm going to tell you." She snickered. Eggman's smirk only grew at her reply.

"I like you even more now. Let's have a deal….you give me that precious stone you have in your hand and I'll let go the hedgehog, deal?"

"No! Don't do it!" Amy shouted despite the pain she was in.

"You be quiet!" Eggman barked at the girl. The robot squeezed Amy so tight, that the poor girl fell unconscious.

"Alright, I'll give it to you, just let her go!" Sierra tossed the fake stone to Eggman, who caught it with a victory grin.

"Nice doing business with you, miss." Before he left, he tossed the unconscious hedgehog at Sierra. Sierra caught her, but they both fell to the ground. Sierra sat up, with the unconscious girl in her lap.

"_That hurt…_" She looked down at the girl, not sure what to do now. Was she one of Sonic's little friends? Well he did mention that he was still missing three friends, so maybe this is one of them.

Sierra sighed and stood up from the dirty ground, holding the girl in her arms. Well, what ells could she do, she had to bring her home, she **did** came to her rescue after all.

Eggman was examining the beautiful Chao Emerald, which he had just received. And that wasn't so hard, just a little manipulation all it took. But one thing bothered him, if that annoying pink hedgehog was here, so did that mean….

He was interrupted from his thoughts when he heard a big explosion behind him. He quickly turned to look what happened and was shocked to his precious robot was destroyed by no other than…

"SONIC?"

Sonic stood on the building just behind Eggman, with a slight frown on his face. "Care to explain to me, what were you doing here, Eggman?" he asked in a serious tone.

"So, you came here as well…." Eggman said quietly, ignoring Sonic's question. "…..Bah! I don't care, now that I got what I was looking for, I'll be on my way." cheered the Doctor. Sonic saw the gem in his hands and his emerald eyes widened in alarm.

"A Chaos Emerald?"

"Yes, a Chaos Emerald, now if you will excuse me I'll-…. "

"….- Oh, no you don't!" came a familiar voice from somewhere. Eggman only saw a blue plane flying by, before he was hit in his flying machine. The hit made him loose his balance, for a minute, and he dropped the gem.

"Oh, no! My Chaos Emerald!" he shouted, as he watched the gem fall to the streets below them. What happened next shocked all three of them. When the gem hit the ground….

…..it shattered into pieces.

There was a dead silence for a minute before Eggman broke it. "It's…it's impossible! The Chaos Emeralds are the strongest gems in the entire galaxy, they don't break at….." and then it hit him.

"It's fake! That girl tricked me, it's not the real Chaos Emerald!" he shouted in annoyance. Not wanting to get into a fight with Sonic without a single robot around, he decided to retreat….for now.

"This isn't over, I'll get the Emeralds, mark my word!" Flying away, smoke trailing behind Eggman's broken machine as he went.

Sonic smirked happily at the man's retreating back.

"Sonic!" Tails' voice sudden broke out through the air. "Catch this!" As he yelled, Sonic spotted a rope ladder flying through the wind, attached to the plane as it flew closer to the roof. Doing as commanded, Sonic jumped as high as he could, grabbed hold on the rope ladder as it flew past with ease.

"Let's go back to Greg's house!" Tails called down to the other. With a slight pause, Sonic responded "Yeah, let's go."

When Amy woke up the sun was already setting outside. She heard someone talking quietly in the room.

"Because of Chaos Control... Time and space was warped and you guys were sent over to this world is what I understand, but... Just what is this Chaos Control effect and these Chaos Emeralds?" Greg asked. Tails, Cream, Sierra and Sonic were all there, along with Cheese, who sat comfortably in the bunny girl's lap.

"Once you gather all seven of the Chaos Emeralds," Tails started with a bit of excitement, "Legend says that the entire world will be in the palm of your hand!"

A squeak was heard as Greg spun halfway around in his chair with a tired look on his face, interrupting Tails excited speech. "However, that isn't what will happen..." Turning to Sierra with an amused smile, he continued, "Legends have legendary heroes for a reason."

"I wonder if the Chaos Emeralds will eventually disappear..." Greg replied, looking slightly tired once more.

"They'll never disappear," a voice broke through the silence. Turning towards the speaker, who happened to be none other then Sonic himself. "I, or me and my team are responsible of guarding the Chaos Emeralds, they can't fall into the wrong hands, but we failed to protect them, so now we are here, in this world with a mad scientist on the loose." Sonic explained calmly from his place on the window ceil.

Sierra silently grimaced at hearing this. To her, it sounded like a fairytale gone bad.

"Why did you give him the Chaos Emerald?" a voice broke everyone's thoughts as they turned to see the pink hedgehog getting up from the bed.

"Amy, are you alright?" Cream came running to her friend's side. Amy ignored her question, instead she came closer to Sierra.

"Why did you give it to him?" she repeated. Sierra looked down at her, no emotions showing on her face.

"I didn't. The only thing I gave that man was a fake stone, which will probably break if you drop it." Sierra explained.

"Which it did." Tails murmured. Suddenly the little fox remembered something and turned to Sierra with a shocked expression on his cute face.

"Then, you were that girl, who Eggman mentioned today, you gave him that fake emerald?"

"Oh God, did Eggman do that to you?" Amy said in a worried voice, just now noticing Sierra's state. Sierra's hair was down from her bun, her white blouse was now cowered in dirt and her elbow was scratched and blood was seen from the wound.

"No, I fell down after catching you." Sierra replied simply. Amy blinked in confusion but then she understood. Eggman must have thrown her and the girl had coughed her wile falling down in the process.

"By the way, I found this along with the fake gem…." Sierra pulled out the precious green gem from her backpack, just now remembering that she had it.

"IT'S A CHAOUS EMERALD!" the animals shouted in shock. Sierra calmly gave the gem to Tails not saying another word.

"I can't believe it; we already have one on the seven Emeralds." Tails said in disbelieve. "_Good for you_" Sierra thought.

"Sierra, why don't you go and clean yourself, you look horrible." Greg said to his granddaughter, after seeing how bad she looked. Sierra looked at him with a dumbfounded expression. Well she knew she was a mess in a dress at the moment, but he didn't have to rub it in.

"Well, **excuse me** for saving the girl from being **quizzed to death**!" With that she turned and left. The nerve of him! If only he knew what have she been thru today, he wouldn't be talking like that then!

She was almost out of the garage when a gentle voice stopped her.

"Um excuse me, Sierra?" Sierra turned and saw Amy standing by the garage doors.

"I wanted to thank you for saving me and…thank you for everything you've done to help me and my friends." She said kindly. Sierra was too tired and frustrated to care at the moment, so she simply said "You're welcome," and left.

Today was a really stressful day for her and all she wanted was to go lock herself in her room and go to sleep.

But somehow she doubt she'll get a good night sleep, the nightmares will surely visit her tonight.

* * *

Yea! I finally finished this chapter, I worked really hard in writing this chapter, so please review and tell me what you think. PLEASE!

I apologise if Sierra is to cold, but she is the 'Broken Doll' in this story. She needs love!

Well anyway REVIEW and till next time.

Love, Amethyst


	7. Nothing but an empty shell

It was an early Sunday morning. A week had passed after the incident with Eggman in the city, and a week since Sierra had last spoken to her grandpa and the Sonic Team. She kept herself busy with her school work and she had finally finished writing her last song for her new album 'Queen of Spades.'

Sierra had a lot of peace and quiet time to finish her songs because the maids never got near her music room and her grandpa, who she knew was looking for her some time now, didn't knew about her secret music room. And thank God for that. At least there was one place in this house where she could be alone, with no one distracting her. Usually if she wanted to get out of the house, she would go to Elora's place, but for a whole week, Sierra couldn't get in touch with her. Her cell phone was turned off, and she wasn't at the music school like usually. But two days ago, she went to her home to see why her friend was avoiding her. Turned out she wasn't. Her mother said she went to see her grandmother, who lived in Silver Valley, and would be staying with her for a whole month. When leaving she forgot her cell phone at home, so her mother had turned it out.

Sierra had thought of going to Silver Valley to visit her friend, but first she had to finish her songs and only then go for a small vacation to Elora. Just yesterday, when she returned from her repetition with Jack, Ella shocked her with news, that her grandpa had fired every single maid in the house and only left Ella and Laura. Sierra didn't understand this sudden action of his. He never cared who worked in the house and how. He wasn't even home half the time, so why now fire all the maids and only leave two.

Well, she was happy that he decided to leave Ella and Laura, because if he fired them, she would have personally given him a piece of her mind!

At this moment she was sitting in her music room, listening to some music on her computer, when suddenly her cell phone rang. She looked at her phone to see her grandpa calling. She frowned and turned the volume on her computer lauder to ignore the call. She didn't want to speak to him at this moment.

After three more songs, the phone was still ringing. Annoyed with those non-stop calls, she decided to answer it.

"What?" she barked into the phone.

"_Um….Sierra_" came a quiet reply. That sounded a lot like…..

"Tails, is that you?" Why was he calling her? If that's the way her grandpa wanted to see her, then she will…..

"_Yea, it's me. Um, could you come down here, to the garage please?_" he asked sweetly. She knew it, her grandpa decided to lure her into the garage by telling one of Sonic's little friends to call her…..

"_Um, Greg isn't here by the way_" Tails added after a minute.

…Or maybe not.

With a heave sigh, she periled "Alright," and hang up. What could they possibly want from her? Well she better go and find out. After closing her music room, she went to the garage, where she found Tails, Amy and Cream all waiting for her by the plane. Strangely, Sonic wasn't around. He probably went for one of his runs again.

"Yes, you wanted to see me?" She asked as she came closer to them.

"Well, we wanted to…to…" Tails was searching for the right words to say, but Amy interrupted him.

"…to ask you to come along with us."

"What?" Sierra questioned.

"Well, you see, we just saw a News report, saying they found another Chaos Emerald in Silver Valley-…." Tails was interrupted by Amy once again.

"…-and we want you to come with us and look for it."

Sierra blinked in confusion. They wanted to go with her to look for a Chaos Emerald?

"Why not go with Greg?" she had to ask. Well, they were hanging out for more than a week, wouldn't they be more comfortable going with him, instead with a stranger like her?

"He went to his lab in the city and wouldn't be back till night time." Tails explained.

"Then why not take the plane and fly there yourself?" She really didn't want to go there and risk Elora seeing her with them. The poor girl will probably have a hearth attack, or something.

"The plane ran out of gas, Greg promise to bring some from work."

"Come on, Sierra you probably know that place and with your help we will be able to find the Emerald faster." Amy continued to persuade the girl.

"No I don't. I've only been there once a long, long time ago." She lied.

"Well, then that's the more reason to go and check it out."

"No, I have-…"

"Please Miss Sierra, we would really love it if you would come with us." Cream said with puppy dog eyes.

"Yeah, and at the same time we could get to know each other better" Amy said with her own puppy eyes. Sierra looked towards Tails, who also was giving her the puppy eyes along with a cute smile.

Sierra honestly didn't know what cracked inside her, but she agreed to go with them.

"One question thou…..if you say that the plane is out of gas, and Greg is at work, then how are we going to get to Silver Valley?"

"Well, we were thinking that we could go by train, but then you will have to take us with you as toys." Tails explained. There was a lovely one minute silence, before Sierra broke it.

"You have **got** to be kidding me…"

In the mean time in Silver Valley, on top of a high cliff, stood a red echidna. The echidna stood quietly, watching the beautiful lake below, deep in thoughts. The events of the accident were still fresh in his mind. Neither of them had time to react. It happened so fast. One minute they were going to rescue Cream and the other they were in the middle of Chaos Control. And then, nothing…..

"There you are. What are you doing here all alone, Knuckles?" a voice brought him out of his thoughts. Looking over his shoulder, he saw a brunette with stunning emerald eyes coming his way. A small smile appeared on his lips.

"And why are you up this early, Elora?"

"Can't sleep, how's your head by the way, does it still hurt?" He really didn't expect to wake up in a comfy bed with a heavy bandage on his head and a human girl telling him she found him in the forest hurt and unconscious.

"No, it doesn't. I heal pretty fast."

Elora was glad that Knuckles wasn't seriously hurt. She was so scared when she brought him hurt and bleeding to her grandma's cottage house up here in the mountains. She really wanted to call Sierra at that moment and tell her that she found a big red echidna, but she hesitated. She didn't want to scare her friend, so she stayed quiet. She hasn't seen Sierra for more than a week now, and on top off that she forgot her cell phone at home. Maybe she should go and visit her instead?

"You know, it's no point in staying here all the time. Would you like to go for a little walk after breakfast?" Maybe a little walk will cheer up her echidna friend.

"Alright, if you really want." He said with a smile. He really did want to go and stretch his legs for a bit.

After an hour of uncomfortable staring and whispering in the train, Sierra, Tails, Amy and Cream with Cheese had finally reached Silver Valley.

"Well, where to now, Tails?" Amy asked as she stretched her arms above her head. Sitting like a doll for an hour without moving was really a stupid idea. Oh, well at least they reached Silver Valley.

"The News lady said the signal was coming from the forest, near the lake."

"Well, let's go look for the lake then" Amy decided to lead the way. Thou Sierra already knew where the lake was but she decided to let the hedgehog lead, so far Amy was going in the right direction.

"So, Sierra, what kept you so busy this week?" Amy decided to start a light conversation. Sierra was really not in the mood to talk about what she did on this week, but she figured it would be rude not to answer.

"School work." she said simply.

"Will you be busy this week?"

_Yes_ "I don't know, I guess. I still have lots of work to do, why do you ask?" School wasn't that of a problem. It was the preparation for her upcoming concert that will take all of her free time away.

"It's just we're here for a week now and we hardly even know you, not to mention we leave in your house." Amy explained.

"And Sonic really wants to get to know you better." Tails added.

"First of all, you live in **Greg's** garage, he made it himself, so it's all **his**, and second, why would Sonic be eager to get to know me?"

"Wouldn't you want to know the person who saved your life?" Amy said with a small chuckle. Sierra decided not to answer that. No, she really didn't want to get to know neither of them.

There is a saying: Don't name anything that you will have to kill in the future, or in this situation: Don't get too attached to anyone, it will only be more painful to let them go. And Sierra had lived thru enough pain in her short 13-years already. She didn't need more.

And of course there was the 'trust' issue. After that incident with Eggman, Sierra had a really good reason not to trust the animals. For all she knew they could be working together with that mad man. She knew what humans are capable of, but talking animals…..

She didn't care how friendly and cute they looked, she won't get near them. She could manage a "hello" and "goodbye" but that's all she would do from now on.

Soon they reached the lake. Sierra remembered how she and Elora went camping by this lake last year. It was such a wonderful day. They went swimming, played badminton, and tolled ghost stories by the fire. It was really a day to remember.

"Where should we search first?" Cream's voice pulled Sierra from her daydream.

"Let's search in the forest." Tails suggested. Sierra rolled her eyes. What was she doing here again?

Suddenly the ground began to shake and a big robot appeared form the lake, grabbing the group before they could escape and throwing them inside its 'glass stomach'.

"_What the hell happened?_" Sierra sat up slowly and looked around to see where they were.

"Well, well, well…if it isn't the Sonic Team …and the sneaky little miss…" a deep voiced was heard, belonging to an evil man, riding in a round machine.

"Eggman?"

Eggman pounded his fists on the dashboard. "Silence! I am Doctor Robotnik…the greatest, most cunning, scientific genius in the world!"

"Yeah right! Whatever you say Dr. **Eggman**…" Amy sneered right back.

"Enough! I've got big plans! I've been working on a master plan though, but now its time to put it to work!"

"We won't let you get your hands on the Chaos Emerald!" shouted Tails.

"There isn't any Chaos Emeralds here, I made those signals, it's not my fault those humans thought otherwise."

"I hate to admit it, but Eggman even got me out-foxed" Tails murmured sadly.

"Well his plan failured, because we're getting out of here!" Amy hit the glass with her hammer, but surprisingly it didn't shatter.

"You can't leave, I need you here before Sonic brings me the Chaos Emerald."

"Sonic doesn't know we're here" Amy said. Eggman only laughed and flew a little higher in his machine.

"Oh, believe me, he knows." He said more to himself.

Sonic ran like the wind towards Silver Valley. Upon arriving back to Greg's garage after his morning run, he was greeted by Eggman's small message robot, Bokkun, who informed him that Eggman had all his friends captured and will only give them back if he brings him the Chaos Emerald. Sonic of course had no desire to give him the Emerald. He will just have to find another way to rescue his friends.

"What is that man planning to do with us?" Sierra had to ask. She didn't know how far he could go, just to get what he wants. She just wanted to get out of here as fast as possible.

"He's going to lure Sonic, while using us as bait." Tails explained.

"He won't get away with this, Sonic will stop him." Cream said wile holding Cheese tight in her arms.

"No one is going to use us as baits!" Amy barked angrily. Her anger tuck over and using all her strength she smashed her hammer on the inside of the robot.

"No, Amy, what are you do-….." the machine that Amy hit blew up immediately, creating a big hole in the glass. The whole glass tub was filled with black smoke making it hard to breath.

"Aaaah! Look what you did, you've ruined my robot!" Eggman shouted angrily after he saw what those animals did to his precious robot.

Suddenly the wind picked up and before anyone understood what happed the robot fell to the ground with its prisoners inside. Everyone cried in alarm as the robot hit the ground.

"Oh, that hurt!" Amy winced as she sat up on the grass cowered ground.

"Cream, are you and Cheese alright?" Tails asked as he helped them up.

"I think so" She replied after checking herself and Cheese for any injures. Sierra sat up and winced in pain, when the robot hit the ground a piece of broken glass had cut her palm and it was now bleeding.

"_Wonderful, it's the second time this week I get hurt_" she thought sadly as she looked at her bleeding hand.

"Is everyone alright?" called a voice from outside the robot. Recognising the voice Amy jumped to her feet immediately.

"Sonic!" she cried in happiness as she jumped to hug him.

"Amy, calm down please," Sonic said, rubbing the girls back gently while she cried. Tails helped Cream and Cheese out and Sierra was the last one to climb out, but just as she was out, the robot came back to life.

"Quickly everyone, run!" Sonic commanded as they all ran towards giant boulders to hide from the robots attack. As soon as it was on his feet, it opened fire, sending missiles everywhere.

"Don't underestimate my robots hedgehog. You and your friends are finished!" Eggman shouted angrily, wile the robot destroyed everything in sight.

"Leave them alone, Eggman!"

"What?…Knuckles!" Eggman saw how a red echidna made its way towards his robot at great speed wile avoiding the missiles. Knuckles jumped on top of the robot and punched the robot with his fists leaving holes in his armour. Knuckles then jumped high to where Eggman was and before delivering him a punch, he hissed angrily, "Get lost!"

The punch sent Eggman flying far away in the sky. Knuckles landed on top of the robot and delivered the last punch destroying the robot immediately. All that was left were pieces of metal from the robot scattered all around the ground.

"Knuckles!" The echidna turned to see his team mates running towards him. As they reached him Cream and Amy jumped on him and gave him one of their big warm hugs.

"Glad to see you're alright, Knuckles" Sonic said. Knuckles nodded smiling slightly. "Yeah, I'm glad I found you guys."

"How did you, by the way?" Tails questioned. But before Knuckles could answer, he saw a girl running towards him from the forest.

"Knuckles are you alright, what was that explosion?" the girl asked when she reached them.

"Everything is fine now" Knuckles replied, "Elora, this is my friends I told you about." He said pointing to his friends. Elora nodded in greeting and smiled kindly.

"It's so nice to meet you finally, Knuckles told me a lot about you." Elora said with a kind smile.

"It's nice to meet you to Miss Elora" Cream said sweetly. "Chao, chao!" Cheese cried out happily. Sonic and Tails nodded in greeting.

"You have a really beautiful name" Amy stated. Elora blushed from the compliment "Oh, thank you."

"Elora?"

Elora turned to see who had called her and was shocked to see her best friend standing just behind her with a surprised look on her face.

"Sierra?"

"What are you doing here?" Sierra finally managed to ask. Did Elora know that red echidna? And for how long? How did they meet? Those were the questions that Sierra wanted to ask her. But somehow she couldn't bring herself to ask them.

"I could ask you the same…."

"You know each other?" Amy decided to ask as she looked at the two girls. Elora nodded without breaking eye contact with her friend.

"We're friends." Elora replied quietly.

Knuckles decided to step in and explain to everyone how he ended up meeting Elora, "She found me one night unconscious in the forest and brought me to her home, where she and he grandmother helped me out."

"I see, well thank you for helping our friend, Elora" Sonic gave Elora a playful wink. He then turned to Sierra, who just stood there with an unreadable expression on her face.

"And it's nice to finally see Miss Edwards out of her shell." Sierra didn't even know he was talking to her, until she heard her name being spoken. She at first didn't understand what he meant by that, but she then guessed he was referring to her 'avoiding them for a whole week' thing. She suddenly grew angry.

"Well, sorry for being busy living my life!" She snapped.

"To busy, for a simple 'hello' in the morning?" He asked calmly. Sierra didn't except to say it out loud, well yes, she thought about it but she didn't mean to say it out loud, it just…happened.

"YES!"

"…and I thought you were different…"

Sierra felt a chill rocket through her entire body- her mind started to race again. Those words should mean nothing to her. Nothing! So….why did it hurt so inside?

"You know guys," Knuckles decided to break the tension "I'm happy to be reunited with you and all, but I don't want to leave Elora and her grandmother, they were so kind to me, I have to pay them back somehow."

"Oh, you are happily invited to live with me and my grandpa, if you want." Elora offered.

At this point, Sierra didn't care if they leave. Maybe that would be best even. She felt their eyes on her, as if asking her permission. She didn't look at them, they don't need her permission, they can go wherever they….

"No, we'll stay with the Edwards" Sonic replied shocking everyone, including Sierra herself.

"Thank you for your invitation, but we will stay where we are now, and seeing as how you and Sierra are friends we will see each other more often…..are you alright with this guys?" Knuckles and Elora nodded.

"I'm fine with it" Tails replied happily.

"Me too" Cream said. "Chao, chao!"

"And me as well" Amy added.

On their trip back home, Sierra hasn't said a word. She didn't understand, why did they choose to stay with her, rather than go live with the ever so sweet and cheerful Elora? Elora would surely treat them with kindles, rather than give them the cold shoulder. They would have been safe there in the mountains, where no one could see them, when in her house they cant even go near the house in fear of been seen by Laura and Ella. So….why?

Sierra still thought, if her childhood would have been different, would she turn up to be friendly and kind like Elora and not cold and empty like a shell?

Yes, that what she was right now….

…Nothing but an empty shell…..


	8. Queen of Spades

**Sierra's POV**

I was getting ready for my concert. Today was the day when I present my new album 'The Queen of Spades.' Today was my big night.

As usually, I didn't say a word to anyone to where I was going. I only told Ella I went to a friend from school and will be spending the night at her house doing a school project. What a good liar I've become. It's sad really, that I have to lie, lie and lie, but in order to keep my identity as Sierra Edwards a secret, I have to lie.

I sat in front of a mirror in my dressing room, waiting for Jack to come and tell me when is my time to go on stage. I have to say, I **really** love my new 'Queen' look. I wore my usual long blond wig with blue strips in it, heave make-up, under my right eye was a fake black scar wile under the left one, a black spade was painted. My dress was knee length, blue and black, spade embroidery, white stripe, lacing-up front, white spade shape patterns on skirt part and lace decoration bottom. My left hand was cowered with silver rings and bracelets wile the left one with a blue glove with a few silver bracelets. On my feet were black and white high-heel boots, and to make my look even batter, a matching ruffed choker was put on my neck with a blue spade in the middle and a little black crown on my head.

I really fell in love with this look. Maybe I should call myself "Selen the Queen of Spades." Sounds nice.

"The concert is going to start in three minutes!" Jack busted through the door. I nodded and followed him towards the stage.

"Will Elora arrive?" he asked as we reached the stage. I honestly didn't know. After that incident in Silver Valley, two days ago, I didn't talk to her. But I doubt she'll arrive.

"No, I don't think so."

"Ladies and gentlemen, please give a worm welcome to your favourite singer, Selen!"

"Good luck, cool cat, break a leg." Jack gave me on of his encouraging grins.

"Let's hope not." I said with a small chuckle. As the crowd began to shout and cheer, I felt how the adrenalin was pumping thru my veins. As the music began to play, there was only me and the crowd, nothing ells.

**Day into night she`s with me  
How sweet is her warm embrace  
Safe in the scent of jasmine  
So safe in her gold and lace **

**Mornings I find, she`s left me  
So cold so alone, but aware  
I try to escape, she finds me  
Oh run though I may, she`s there, there, there, there, there... **

**Luck is a lady whose smile is as cold as a stone  
She`ll bring you things, many things you might never have known  
But when your die is cast she`ll have the final laugh at you  
She`ll lock you in a duel, where you come out the fool **

**Beware of the Queen of Spades  
Her black widow`s curse might find you yet  
Beware of a love that you will regret  
Her love means only your death **

**Day into night she`s with me  
Turn of a card, she`s there  
The first time is free, you know  
But from now on, pay me, me, me, me, me...**

**Beware of the Queen of Spades  
Her black widow`s curse might find you yet  
Beware of a love that you will regret  
Her love means only your death….**

An applause breaks out. I smile and prepare to sing my next song.

**Under the radar  
Out of the system  
Caught in the spotlight  
That's my existence **

**You want me to change but all I feel is  
Strange  
Strange  
In your perfect world so  
Strange  
Strange  
I feel so absurd in this life  
Don't come closer in my arms forever you'll be  
Strange  
Strange **

**You want to fix me  
Push me  
Into your fantasy  
You try to give me  
Sell me  
A new personality **

**You try to lift me  
I don't get better  
What's making you happy  
Is making me sadder **

**In your golden cage all I feel is  
Strange  
Strange  
In your perfect world so  
Strange  
Strange  
I feel so absurd in this life  
Don't come closer in my arms forever you'll be  
Strange  
Strange  
Like me  
Strange **

**When you touch me  
Strange  
When you kill me  
Strange  
All I feel is  
Strange **

**In my dreams too  
Together we'll be  
Strange  
Strange  
In a perfect world **

**Strange  
I am so strange  
Strange  
I am so strange  
Strange  
Strange  
In your perfect world so  
Strange  
Strange  
I feel so absurd in this life  
Don't come closer you'll die slowly,  
In my arms forever you'll be  
Strange  
Strange  
Like me **

That song was my favourite. It described me so well. I do fell strange in my own world. Just like an outcast. Everyone was staring in awe, the crowd waved and screamed loudly. Oh, but if only they knew, if only they knew how hard it is for me to live a lie everyday. If only someone knew…

**End of POV.**

**In Greg's Lovett's garage **

It was late at evening. The whole Sonic Team were sitting by the TV watching the live concert of Selen.

"Oh, my God! She is so wonderful!" Amy shouted in a fan girl manner. Greg chuckled in amusement.

"You know, Selen, appeared only a year ago, and she even outran Sierra's mother, who is a famous singer also."

"Sierra's mother is a singer?" Tails asked in surprise. Greg nodded proudly.

"She was the most popular one, before Selen appeared." He explained.

"What do Sierra's parents do?" Sonic had spoken for the first time since the concert started.

"Sierra's father, James Edwards is a world's famous movie star and Sierra's mother, Jenifer Lovett is a pop-star singer."

"Whoa, they're famous." Amy said in awe with stars shining in her eyes.

"Does Sierra plan to be a singer or a movie star in the future?" Tails was curious to know.

"I honestly don't know, she once said that she doesn't want to be like her parents."

"Well, maybe she will be a model. She is pretty after all." Amy stated.

"I doubt that, she hates fame, and anyway it's hard to tell what she wants if you can't even go near her without being yelled at."

"She wasn't like that always, was she?" Tails didn't want to believe that Sierra was a bad person; everyone goes thru bad things in their lives.

"I don't know, like I said, it's hard to get near her."

"Did you even try?" Greg was surprised to hear this from Sonic. The hedgehog's eyes were glued to the TV, but his attention was on their conversation about Sierra.

"Of course I tried, but she just doesn't want anyone near her." Greg commented.

"Guess you didn't try hard enough." Sonic said calmly. Selen just finished singing her second song and now another one started.

**Momma never taught me how to love**  
**Daddy never taught me how to feel**  
**Momma never taught me how to touch**  
**Daddy never showed me how to heal **

**Momma never set a good example**  
**Daddy never held momma's hand**  
**Momma found everything hard to handle**  
**Daddy never stood up like a man **

"Maybe she didn't had anyone there to help her when she needed it the most." Sonic looked towardsGreg. His face was calm but his eyes held many emotions.

**I've walked around broken, emotionally frozen**  
**Hanging on, get it wrong**

"She feels, like she is all alone and she has no one to count on…."

**How do you love someone without getting hurt**  
**How do you love someone without crawling in the dark**  
**So far in my life clouds have blocked the sun**  
**How do you love, how do you love someone**  
**How do you love, how do you love someone**

"She just doesn't know how to love anymore…"

**I was always a chosen child**  
**The biggest scandal I became**  
**They told me I'd never survive, but survive was my middle name**  
**I've walked around hoping just barely broken**  
**Hanging on, get it wrong**

**How do you love someone without getting hurt**  
**How do you love someone without crawling in the dark**  
**So far in my life clouds have blocked the sun**  
**How do you love, how do you love someone**  
**How do you love, how do you love someone**

"How do you know all this?" Greg asked when Sonic stopped speaking. Sonic chuckled softly before replying, "Because I went thru it all with my friends in the past and we got thru it all together."

**It's hard to talk to see what's deep inside**  
**It's hard to tell the truth when you always lie **

**How do you love someone without getting hurt**  
**How do you love someone without crawling in the dark**  
**So far in my life clouds have blocked the sun**  
**How do you love, how do you love someone **

**How do you love someone and make it last**  
**How do you love someone without tripping on the past**  
**So far in my life clouds have blocked the sun**  
**How do you love, how do you love someone**  
**How do you love, how do you love someone**  
**Someone**

Greg went quiet after Sonic's last comment. The hedgehog was right, he always kept himself busy in his lab. Never found time for Sierra, never tried to teach her something, never was there for her.

Only now, only after Sonic words, had he really understood what a terrible grandfather he was.

**At the concert**

The crowd waved and screamed loudly. They were captured by Selen's beautiful voice. After a few songs were over, the crowd begged for an encore. She sang song after song till her fans were pleased. Some fans sang along with her. In a few hours the concert ended.

Jack had offered Sierra to stay at his place for the night, but she refused. She said that she will go home and just sneak into her house from the back door like she usually does.

After Jack dropped her off near her house, she sneaked into the house and went straight to her room. She changed into her pink night dress and jumped on her bed.

"Maybe my new songs were too sad, but what can I do? Music is what feelings sound like." She whispered softly before finally drifting to sleep.

* * *

This short little chapter is nothing special, just one of Sierra's concerts. The fun part will be in the next chapter, but it will take some time, because I'm still thinking how to do it right. You know 'what to add and what to remove' that stuff.

Well here are the songs that I used:

Queen of Spades by Styx

Strange by _Tokio Hotel_ Ft. Kerli

How do you love someone? By Ashley Tisdale

Give me some time, I'll get the next chapter up soon! See you later. ;]

Love, Amethyst


	9. Emotionally wild party

**Authors Note: **I'm so happy you are all pleased with this and enjoying it. Thank you for your sweet reviews, they make me work harder and make each chapter more interesting. I had no idea you all would like it this much. Its crack to write, I can't stop.

Thank you all! (kisses) I LOVE YOU!

Enjoy, and I hope you like it. (Reviews make me write more, and faster!)

Love, Amethyst ;]

* * *

The next morning, Sierra had troubles getting up from bed. She was so tired after the concert, all she wanted to do was sleep all day long, but to her annoyance, today was school day. Damn.

"Sierra, wake up! You're going to be late for school!" Sierra heard Ella's voice outside her room. She grabbed her cell phone from her nightstand to see what time was it.

**6:45 am.** Great, if she doesn't get up now she'll be late that's for sure.

"Ok, I'm up..." She mumbled to herself.

She stood up and went toward the window to look outside. It was a beautiful day. The sky was as blue as ever, there were no clouds in the sky, the birds were singing, and the sun was as yellow and bright as ever. After standing by the window another five minutes, Sierra went to get dressed.

She decided to wear her usual white blouse with black ribbons and a black tie with a matching white miniskirt and a black belt. She tied her long brown hair into two ponytails and added a little bit of make up. After she checked herself in the mirror she went downstairs to have some breakfast.

"Good morning, Laura." Sierra sat at the table and waited for Ella to serve her breakfast.

"Good morning, Miss, sleep well?" Laura asked while dusting the bookshelf.

"If it wasn't for school, I would be sleeping all day." Sierra said with a tired smile. Just then Ella entered the room, with Sierra breakfast.

"Sierra, I have a surprise for you," Ella said with an obvious joy in her voice.

"Oh, and what is that?" Sierra questioned.

"Your mother is coming home today, she will be here at noon." Ella said with a big smile.

"That's great." Sierra said with a small smile.

"And that's not all; your mother is planning to have a party for you tonight."

Sierra blinked in confusion "A party?" It wasn't her birthday, was it?

"Yes, isn't that wonderful, I'll prepare us something absolutely delicious, how does it sound?"

Sierra really didn't know what to say to this, she was happy that her mother had finally found the time to come home and see her, but was that party really necessary? Couldn't they just spend the time together? Alone.

"Will, James arrive to?" Sierra asked quietly. God, she hoped he won't be coming home anytime soon.

"Ah, no dear, your dad is still working." Ella replied sadly. Sierra sighed with relieve. She refused to see him at all. What kind of father abuses his children all their lives and then goes out to work for two or more years. She hated him with a passion.

"I'm glad." She murmured. After she finished her breakfast and thanked Ella, she took her backpack and her cell phone from her room and headed for the doors.

"Laura, Ella, I'm gone! See you later!" She called while heading toward the door.

"Have a good day, dear, and go straight home after school." Ella called from the other room.

"I will!" With that said she ran out the door and began to walk to school.

In the mean time, just outside Greg's garage, Cream and Cheese were picking flowers. Greg allowed them to go outside but only if they stay near the garage, so nobody could see them. Inside Greg's garage, on the second floor, where Greg's room was, Amy and Tails stood by the window, watching their young friend as she played in the flowers.

"Is it fun to go outside to pick flowers?" Tails asked as he watched Cream.

"I think she misses her Mom, I just whish we could help her somehow, but how?" Amy replied sadly.

Behind them, Sonic sat on Greg's chair, pretending to be sleeping. He could imagine how she felt at the moment. Besides Tails and one annoying little bee, she was the youngest in their group and she never was separated from her mother for this long.

Suddenly he noticed a poster on the wall before him. On the poster was a beautiful lake with a giant flower field near by. Greg told them about that place just a couple of days ago. It was called 'The flower lake' because the lake was always surrounded by tons of flowers and Greg said that this year the field was blooming like never before.

So there was their answer….

Jumping to his feet, Sonic snatched the poster of the wall and quickly left the room. Amy and Tails turned to see their friend long gone.

"Sonic?" Amy said. Where did he go?

Inside of Station Square's Elementary School, Sierra, along with her friends, Danny and Frances, sat at their desks, talking.

"A party?" Danny asked. Sierra nodded. "Yea, my Mom want's to throw a party for me….." She said placing her hands on the back of her head, "….I don't really know who will be there at this party of hers, but at least I'll see her finally."

"And that's what matters the most, you will have a chance to see your Mom again, so just have fun and relax." Frances replied with a friendly smile.

"Yea, you're right." Sierra smiled a little at the thought.

Just outside the classroom door, Mr. Stuart was listening to what the kids were talking about. So, there will be a party at the Edwards mansion. Interesting…..

Back at the mansion, Cream and Cheese snuck into the house to see as to why the two women were running around the house like crazy, one of them, the big lady with brown curly hair, was cooking something in the kitchen, while the other one, the orange haired young lady, was busy cleaning the rooms. In a few minutes, Greg came down the stairs, wearing a black suit. By the look on his face he wasn't really happy.

"Oh, I hate suits," he whined. Laura chuckled and went to help him with his tie, which he had troubles putting on properly.

"You look good, sir," Laura said after putting the tie on properly.

"Oh, my daughter just had to throw a party, didn't she? Why can't she just come home like any other normal parent, without brining a party with her?" He grumbled as he crossed his arms, looking to the side.

"Well, I think that today will be a day to remember." Laura replied with a lovely smile.

Cream and Cheese watched from the corner, as the two left the room. "Maybe I can help decorate for the party." She said quietly.

A few hours later the last lessons for the day were over and the kids were all going home. Sierra stood by her locker, putting her last book into her backpack, when suddenly she got the feeling like someone was watching her.

"_This feels familiar,_" She thought.

"Hey, Sierra" came the smooth voice of Sierra's teacher, Mr. Stuart. Sierra closed her locker and turned to face her teacher with her all famous plastic smile.

"Yes?" She said sweetly. That's the second time he talks to her alone. Bad sign, really bad sigh!

"I haven't been teaching here long, but I just wanted to say, thanks," he replied. Sierra was confused for a minute. "_Why is he thanking me?_" she thought to herself.

"I'm really lucky to have so many intelligent and talented kids in my class."

"Uhu…" Sierra murmured. Where is this going?

"You kids are terrific, and I want to know all of you better, so I'm coming to visit you and your family later today." He said happily. Sierra's eyes widened in shock after he said that. He wants to come for a visit?

"I can't wait to meat your Mom and get her autograph." Giving her a little wave goodbye, he turned and left. Sierra was left standing there all alone in the hall with her eyes wide and mouth slightly open.

Is that man stalking her or what?...

Sonic had long since reached the mountains, but that was the only thing he saw so far. No lake, or flower field in sight. He took another look around before continuing his search again.

After saying goodbye to her friends she had turned the same old corner street and went down the same old sidewalk like any other day. She still didn't understand why Mr. Stuart wanted to stop for a visit later today. Does he visit everyone he teaches, or was it because of her famous parents? She really didn't know and wasn't really that interested. She knew she was a good student at school, so there's nothing to worry about.

When she reached the main gates, to her house, she saw a white limo standing by the front doors. A beautiful woman climbed out of the limo and took off her dark sunglasses. She had short blond hair and stunning gray coloured eyes. She was wearing a white blouse and a short black skirt with black high heels. After Sierra saw who it was she ran to greet the women.

"Mom!" She called. The women turned to look who had called her and smiled warmly after she saw her daughter running towards her.

"Sierra, my dear, how nice it is to finally see you." Jenifer said and hugged her daughter tightly. Sierra hugged her back. "You to, Mom." How nice it was to finally see her.

"Well, let's go inside and see everyone." Jenifer suggested. Sierra nodded and fallowed her Mom inside the house. As they entered Greg, Ella and Laura were waiting for them by the doors.

"Welcome home, Madam." Ella and Laura greeted Jenifer. Greg went to hug his daughter.

"Welcome ladies, dad." She hugged her father back. "Welcome back, Jen. It's nice to finally see you."

"You to, Dad, how is everything here, anything new?" She asked, while Ella and Laura took her luggage to her room upstairs. Greg shook his head and smiled.

"No, nothing new."

Sierra rolled her eyes at his comment. "_Yea right, nothing's new whatsoever._" she thought.

"By the way, I invited Sam Speed, he should be arriving in a couple of hours." Jenifer announced.

"The S-Team captain?" Sierra asked. Jenifer nodded. "Yes, it was so long since I saw him last."

"Come on, Jen let's go up to your room and you will tell me how is your career going so far." The two of them went upstairs and Sierra was left alone in the hall. She reached the stairs and sat down, dropping her backpack on the floor. She was so tired and all she really wanted was to take a good long nap, but she really wanted to spend some time with her mother, while she was still here.

Suddenly she saw something moving from the corner of her eye. She turned her head towards the living room and her eyes widened in shock. There, on the couch, were Cream and Cheese, messing around with some kind of party decoration. She quickly jumped to her feet and ran into the living room.

"C-Cream, what are you doing here?" Cream didn't have time to respond as she and Cheese were pulled behind the couch by Sierra. They heard how the door opened and someone walked in.

"Oh, tonight will be so much fun." Ella said happily. After she took something from the coffee table, she left the room. Sierra sighed with relieve. That was **to** close.

"Hun, what are you doing here, what if someone had seen you?" Sierra asked.

"But we were bored, and we only wanted to help you get ready for your party." She said sweetly.

"It is very thoughtful of you to help us get ready, Cream." Sierra froze in shock. Oh, no this can't be happening. She immediately stood up from the floor and started making excuses.

"Laura, I can explain everything, well not really but-….."

"Sierra, I understand don't worry." Laura was smiling as if nothing had happened at all.

"_Don't worry she tells me, I'm not worrying, I'm PANICKING!_" Was the only thing Sierra thought at that moment.

"And you're alright with this?"

"Yes, of course, I actually saw Cream a few days ago, near the garage, but I decided to stay quiet about it." Laura explained.

"Does Ella…."

"Oh, no she doesn't know, I didn't tell her." Sierra nodded and looked down at Cream, but the little girl wasn't there anymore.

"Laura….where did Cream go?" Sierra asked calmly.

Sonic was still running around the mountains in search of the flower lake. He was running around this area all morning and still didn't find anything. He better hurry before it gets dark, because then it will be impossible to find anything.

Sierra was searching every room in this house for Cream and Cheese. Still no luck. That was the disadvantage of having a large house, you either get lost, or loose something, or in this situation, someone.

"_Where could they be?_"

Ella was cooking in the kitchen, when Mrs. Edwards called her.

"Yes?" she turned off the mixer to hear what Mrs. Edwards wanted from her.

"I can't find my short black dress, do you know where it is?"

"It should be in the closet, Madam."

"I can't find it!" Ella sighed and decided to go and help look.

"Hang on, I'm coming."

"Good grief." She murmured and left the kitchen. While Ella was upstairs, Cream ran into the kitchen. She went to the table where all the food was served.

"Look at all that food, it smells so good." Cream was amazed at how many delicious dishes there were. Cheese was hovering to close to the mixer, which Ella left, and accidentally pushed the button with his little foot. The mixer started to mix violently, sending strawberry cream flying everywhere. Cream got scared and ran, with Cheese, from the kitchen before anyone saw them. Ella appeared minutes later to see the entire kitchen covered in strawberry cream. She yelled in shock.

Sierra, who was still searching for the animals, heard Ella's scream. At first she thought that Ella probably saw them and was now scared, but when she arrived in the kitchen, all she saw was a cream-covered kitchen and a distressed Ella sitting on the floor. She quickly ran to her side.

"Ella, what happened here?" Sierra asked. Ella sighed sadly before answering.

"All my food, it's ruined." Sierra just looked around the messy kitchen once again, without saying a word.

Upstairs in her room, Jenifer was finally ready. She decided to wear a long red dress, because she couldn't find the black one anywhere and a pair of diamond earrings with a matching diamond necklace. She looked in the mirror and smiled.

"Perfect, that will do, for now anyway." Suddenly the phone rang.

"Mmm, interruptions….hello?"

"_Jenny, pack your thing and get ready, I've booked a concert for you in France, the plane leaves tonight!_" said a man's voice.

"What, but I only got home today, can it wait till tomorrow?" she asked.

"_No it can't, I already put a nice fortune on this concert and the tickets are already sold out!_"

"Y-yes alright, I'll leave immediately, goodbye."

Jenifer covered her face with her hands to hide the tears that appeared. "Why does it always have to happen this way…I don't even have time to spend with my little girl." She cried harder now. "I may be a great singer, but I'm a terrible mother…..forgive me Sierra."

Outside Jenifer's room, Cream stood silently and watched sadly as the women cried.

After another hour of running around, Sonic had finally found the flower lake. Greg was right, the place was simply breathtaking. The lake sparkled like diamonds under the bright sun and the flower field looked like a rainbow, filled with all kinds of colorful flowers. Sonic kneeled down and picked a yellow flower. It smelled wonderfully. Yes it will do just wonderfully…

Sierra still couldn't find Cream and Cheese anywhere. This is getting ridiculous. Suddenly she remembered something. "They could be in the garage." Without wasting anymore time she ran towards Greg's garage.

"Sierra? Sierra?" Ella called as she searched for the girl. How will she tell the poor girl that her mother is leaving again? She went outside, where Jenifer stood by her limo waiting for Ella, while Laura was putting Jenifer's luggage into the car. Jenifer turned to face the women when she came outside.

"Well?" she asked hopefully. Ella shook her head sadly. "I couldn't find her, Madam." Jenifer looked down at her wristwatch. It was time to go.

"Ella, please tell Sierra how sorry I am, and apologize to Sam for me." Jenifer said taking Ella's hands into her own.

"They will understand, you take cake now, Mrs. Edwards."

"Call me if Sierra needs anything."

"Of course, Madam." Laura replied.

"Poor Sierra, she so wanted to see her mother again and look what happened." Laura said after the limo disappeared from sight. Ella just sighed sadly and went inside. What a troublesome day it turned out to be.

Sierra reached Greg's room, but was really disappointed when she didn't find them there like she hoped.

"They're not here." She said quietly.

"Who's not here?" Tails asked. Sierra rubbed her temple in annoyance. How long will this stupid game of hide and seek will last?

"Cream and Cheese." Sierra said quietly and calmly as she could at that moment. They all send her confused looks, before Greg decided to ask.

"Aren't they outside?"

"No."

"No?"

"No."

"….Then where are they?"

"Somewhere in the house, and any minute now Sam will arrive along with my school teacher and if they see them….."

"Don't panic now, let's search the house all together." Greg suggested.

"Right!" Amy and Tails said together.

"Sierra?" Greg stopped the girl before she left his room.

"Yes?"

"Why is your school teacher coming?"

"…I didn't do anything." She left quickly after that.

Mr. Stuart was on his way to Sierra's house. A beautiful bouquet of blood red roses was lying on the passenger's seat beside him. His real mission was to leave a listening device somewhere in the house, so he could learn more about the animals, which were living in that house. But he really wouldn't mind meting the famous Jenifer Lovett.

Soon he was at the Edwards doorstep. The door opened and there stood a beautiful young woman with orange hair and bright green eyes.

"Come in, sir. We were expecting you." She let him in. Inside he was met with Sierra. "Hello, Sierra." He said with his famous charming smile.

"Good day, Mr. Stuart, let us go to the living room." she said returning the smile. The man nodded and fallowed her into the living room, where Ella was already waiting for them.

"Oh, come in, please sit down Mr. Stuart." Ella said.

"Thank you, I can't wait to meet Mrs. Edwards." Mr. Stuart sat down still holding the bouquet of roses in his arms.

"I'm terribly sorry, but Mrs. Edwards was called out to go prepare for a really important concert and she had to leave immediately." Ella explained.

"What!" Sierra yelped loudly.

"Oh, that's too bad, well I guess these are for you then." Mr. Stuart gave Ella the beautiful bouquet.

"Oh, thank you, Mr. Stuart they are so lovely."

Sierra sat down on the couch and let the news, about her mother leaving, sink in. Did she really leave, just know? Sierra hasn't seen her for six months and she comes home only to leave again in a couple of hours? This was unbelievable.

Suddenly something shattered, like a vase or a pot. Ella put the roses on the coffee table and went to the window to see what happened. Outside, Mr. Lovett was lying on the ground with a broken flower pot besides him.

"Ha, ha sorry, Ella, I just fell you see…" he said awkwardly. Ella sent him a strange look before scowling.

"I don't know what were you doing here, but Sierra's teacher is here, so behave yourself."

"Oh, I better go say hello." He was going to go thru the window.

"Why can't you use the front door like normal people?"

"One way in is as good as another."

While Ella and Greg were arguing, Cream and Cheese were hiding behind the curtains. A few seconds later, Sonic appeared on the tree branch outside, with a lovely bouquet of flowers in his hand and pointed towards the garage, for Cream to meet him there.

"Sonic went and picked me a bunch of flowers." She came out of her hiding place, not aware that everyone was still in the room. Greg smacked his forehead, Mr. Stuart was standing by some kind off random painting and wasn't even paying attention to them and Sierra was simply sitting on the couch ignoring everything and everyone. Laura walked into the room and stopped when she saw Cream and Cheese…..This will get ugly.

"Ah, is-is this little animal talking?" Ella took a step back in complete shock. After she said that, Sierra finally got back to her senses. She quickly stood up from the couch and picked up Cream and held her like a stuffed animal.

"Don't be ridiculous, this is my new toy." Sierra explained. She looked down at Cream and whispered "Pretend to be a toy."

"Toy? Look I heard that thing speak." Ella put her hands on her hips.

"Hey, hey." A voice called from the hall and soon Sam Speed walked into the room. "Come on lets start the party it's to slow!"

"And your mouth is to fast." Ella said with hands on her hips as she looked at Sam with a slight frown on her face.

"I can't help it if I like speed, I've always been fast, and that's why I'm the captain of the S-Team." He commented proudly. Sierra rolled her eyes. How did he and her mother were childhood friends she had no idea. You would get tired of always trying to keep up with him, or tired of his big ego.

"I do everything fast…." He continued on, "…...fall in love fast, engage fast, marry fast, and divorce fast!"

"….Really?" Mr. Stuart asked awkwardly.

"Yeah, if I don't do everything fast I feel weird, I fall asleep fast, I wake up fast, I talk faster than everyone else, no one can keep up with me!"

He suddenly grew serious. "But there is one person faster than me!"

"You don't say." Sierra said with sarcasm. She was glad that there was someone faster than him, nice punch on his 'fast' ego.

"He was so fast. An unbelievable speed!" Sam grumbled as he crossed his arms. "He looked like a big blue hedgehog." Ah, but of course, who could be faster than Sam except for Sonic.

"Blue hedgehog? What kind of creature was that?" Mr. Stuart asked in complete surprise.

"He was big, had big spikes and red shoes…." He suddenly stopped talking when he saw the same blue hedgehog smirking at him outside the window.

"It's him!" He shouted pointing at the window. Everyone turned to look, but no one was there.

"You saw him right? Right? Didn't you see him sitting on that tree?"

"What are you talking about?" Greg asked not even looking at Sam.

"I didn't see anything." Laura finally said, looking at the window where Sonic was just minutes ago.

"Y-you didn't see anything, what about you, Sierra?" he turned to the girl.

"No, Sam I didn't see any blue hedgehogs wearing red shoes." She said calmly. If she didn't already know Sonic, she would have thought that Sam had gone mad.

"I'm telling you, he was there!" He grumbled as he crossed his arms, looking to the side.

"You aren't talking about a giant talking animal, are you?" Ella asked, coming closer to Sam.

"What, so you saw something like that too?...So that means, he **is** real! Ha! I knew I wasn't imagining it." Sam said with a silly grin.

"I was talking about that one." Ella pointed at the rabbit in Sierra's arms.

"Sam, I am terribly sorry, but I thought that my Mom will stay for the party but she left for work again." Sierra tried to change the subject about the animals. "It shouldn't be a surprise by now, she is rarely at home at all, maybe once every six mounts, you and Mr. Stuart came all this way just to see her and she just left, like always, again I'm very sorry."

"Ah, typical Jen, all work and no rest." Sam remarked.

Cream remembered how Mrs. Edwards cried because she was called out for work and couldn't stay home with her daughter. Cream jumped from Sierra arms and shouted at her in a sad and angry voice.

"How cruel! She loves you very much! How dare you say such a bad thing about your mother?" Everyone in the room stood still, watching the scene, which was played before them. Ella and Sam watched with opened mouths and wide eyes, they weren't shocked at **what** the rabbit was saying, they were more shocked that the rabbit was **talking** in the first place.

"I hate you…..I HATE YOU!" Cream turned and ran out of the room in tears. Cheese flew after her, but not before giving Sierra a mean look.

There was a deadly silence for a couple of minutes. Everyone had different thoughts about what just happened, but no one dared to speak. It was all too much.

"Well, that was unexpected." Finally Laura broke the silence.

"Cream, come back!" Out of nowhere, Amy and Tails came running thru the room, trying to catch Cream. "Cream, wait!"

After they left the room, the same silence, as before, followed yet again. But this time there was more tension in the room. This time no one wanted to break the silence. No one dared to move, or to speak. Finally Sierra slowly sat down on the couch, without saying a word.

"I want to forget what happened today, **fast**!" Sam stated, breaking the silence. Mr. Stuart, who stood by the wall, looked down at the small device in his left hand and after a minute he put it away in his coat pocket. It isn't easy for this family and he didn't want to make it even harder for them. He will find another way to learn more about those animals.

"I guess I should be going," he said "I still have work to do, Goodbye everyone."

"Let me show you to the door, sir." Laura suggested and the two left the room.

"Yeah, I should be going too, say 'hi' to Jen for me Sier." Sierra didn't say anything. Soon everyone left and the only ones, who remained in the room, were Sierra and Ella. Ella walked over to the couch and sat down next to Sierra.

"T-they were real, weren't they?" Ella asked. Sierra didn't respond. She just sat there, looking at nothing, no emotions showed on her face. Nothing. She simply sat there, like a doll. Ella was about to get up when Sierra finally spoke.

"Yes, they are real." Was her reply.

"Oh, are…..are they nice?" Ella was curious to know.

"You can go and meet them yourself, they're very friendly." She kept her lips pursed, not wanting Ella to see through the cracks in her mask. She felt like something just shattered inside her, but what was there left to shatter? It couldn't be her heart, because it was broken for a very long time now…..

Later that evening, Ella was preparing supper for everyone, with the help of her new little workers, Cream and Cheese. Greg had introduced her and Laura to the Sonic Team, and Ella was more than happy to finally meet them. They were all so different, but really friendly and kind.

"I hope you find a way to return to your home world, dear." Ella said, while chopping the vegetables.

"Don't worry, Sonic will find a way, in the mean time you can take care of us, Ella." Cream said sweetly. Ella felt a few tears escape her eyes, but not sad tears, no, happy ones. She never had the chance of becoming a mother, she really wanted to have a child of her own, but it simply wasn't meant to be. Now she was given a chance to see what it's like.

"I would be happy to, Creamy." Ella said wiping her tears away.

"Thank you." Cream smiled warmly at Ella.

Sierra was lying on her bed in her dark room. She felt awful, simply awful. The events of the day were still fresh in her mind. The happy and nice morning, when Ella told her that her mother was coming home, the confusion, when Mr. Stuart promised to come for a visit, the worry, when she couldn't find Cream and Cheese anywhere, the anger and hurt, when her mother left and the sickly cold feeling inside, when she heard 'I hate you' directed to her.

She didn't want to admit it to herself, but those words had hurt her more that she could ever imagine. But she knew that she deserved them. She deserved everything they say to her. She ignored and avoided them for almost two weeks and didn't even try to get to know them, she didn't even give them the chance. She always talked to them with annoyance and irritation, when they always spoke with kindness. She was a terrible person and she knew it. She was a complete mess and nothing more.

She turned on her side, face facing the window. It was only **9:10 pm **but she didn't care what time it was, she just wanted to go to sleep and forget everything that happened today.

"_I guess __it is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not._" With that thought, she fell asleep.

Half an hour later, someone entered her room. The little figure quietly made her way towards Sierra's bed. When she reached the bed, she put a beautiful flower crown on the empty pillow behind Sierra.

"I made this for you," Cream said quietly, even thou Sierra couldn't hear her, "I'm sorry for what I said to you today, I don't hate you. I hope you like my gift." After that, she left the room quietly, closing the door behind her.

Outside, on Sierra's balcony, Sonic stood, watching her thru the glass door. He was out all day searching for the flower lake, so he didn't know what really happened during the day, but after seeing Cream bring Sierra flowers, he guessed everything was alright now.

"_Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive._" Sonic watched Sierra for a few more minutes before returning to Greg's garage.


	10. Midnight story by the XTornado

**Authors Note:** Thank you all so much ! I'm really touched by how much you all are liking this. I hope you all enjoy this one. Thou Sierra still tries to keep away from Sonic as far as she can, she'll open up a little bit to someone ells, so read and find out!

**P.S. **Knuckles and Elora will finally appear in the next chapter, and maybe even Rouge!

Again, thank you for the reviews. They are my jewels. (Which I steal…..hahaha) Keep them coming!

Love, Amethyst ;]

* * *

The next day after school, after finishing her homework, Sierra decided to write a few songs. She was currently sitting on her bed, in her room, with a textbook in her lap, trying to put the words together.

"_Why you think that you know me, But In your eyes I am something above you….….only in your mind I wear a mask….._"

"No, no that wont do, better use another word." She sighed and put her pencil to her lips. "Now what word could I use, _I wear a shadow?_ No way, _I…wear….a….a…halo?_"

"Yes, that's perfect!" She quickly wrote down the words before she could forget them. After another hour of writing, she decided to go downstairs, to the kitchen, to make herself a cup of tea. She put away her textbook, put on her slippers and went downstairs.

While she was making her tea, she thought about yesterdays events. It was an awful day for her, she couldn't even look Mr. Stuart in the eye today. But what surprised her, was that he didn't even ask her about what he saw while visiting her home. Didn't he saw the animals, talking, running around the room, yelling at her? Why didn't he say anything about it today? She felt relieved that he didn't, but at same time she was nervous. What if he tells the police, that the 'alien animals' are hiding in her house? They could get arrested for that! But they would have been here yesterday if Mr. Stuart had said anything to anyone. Well that is a good sign, for now anyway.

Another strange thing happened yesterday, while she was sleeping she dreamed, that Cream came into her room to apologize. She almost fell from her bed today, when she found a flower crown on her pillow. So that wasn't a dream, she really came and apologised? If it really happened, and Sierra was a 99% sure it did, she was now feeling, like a great weight was lifted from her shoulders. But still, she should apologise also.

After she made herself a cup of tea, she decided to go back to her room and finish writing her songs. While passing the living room she heard someone crying in there. Curious as to what happened, she walked into the room and saw Cream and Cheese sitting on the floor crying, Tails standing by the couch with a guilty look on his face, Sonic sitting on the couch, obviously lost in this situation and Ella with Amy trying to comfort the crying little girl.

"Oh, Sierra dear, could you please help me with the TV?" Ella gave Sierra the remote control. Sierra looked towards the TV and instantly understude where the problem was.

"Now I can't watch my cooking show." Amy pouted, while Sierra tried to find the channels.

"Mr. Television died!" Cream cried harder.

"And I wanted to watch my movie." Ella commented sadly.

"And I'll miss my fashion show!" Laura stated when she entered the room and saw the broken TV. Sierra gave them all a strange look.

"And how did you expect to watch all that at the same time?" she asked. All of a sudden, a strange little creature flew thru the open window and landed on the coffee table. He pulled out a little yellow TV from his bag and turned it on.

"I have a message for you from, Dr. Robotnik, so listen up!" In a few seconds, the ugly face of Dr. Robotnik appeared, with a satisfying smirk.

"_You should be afraid, Sonic. That empty head of yours can't even begin to fathom what is going on…..Look at this._" A picture appeared on the screen, showing a giant green bird-like robot, 'eating up' satellites.

"He's stealing the satellites!" Ella stated.

"_The people of this world enjoy watching just above everything it seems,_" Eggman continued on "_I think they brought this on themselves. And it's useless to try to get to my new robot, E-90, because it's in the stratosphere….Even if you use that useless plane of yours, you wont be able to reach it! _" With that the line went dead. The little robot put the mini TV back into his bag and flew out the window.

"What's a stratosphere?" Tails asked.

"A layer of air miles above us." Sierra answered. Tails face fell after hearing this. This could be a problem for them.

"The Tornado can get there, right?" Amy asked looking over at Tails. Tails didn't answer her. He was thinking if their plane really had any chances of reaching that robot. Somehow he doubt it did. But still…..

"Well, let's go and see." Sonic's voice broke Tails out of his thoughts. "C'mon, little bro." Sonic stood up from the couch and ran to the garage, where their plane was.

"Well, alright…..let's go." Tails fallowed Sonic to the garage. Tails jumped into the plane and Sonic jumped into the passenger's seat behind Tails. At that moment, Greg came into the garage and saw them leaving.

"Where are you two going?" he asked. Tails shouted over his shoulder before taking off.

"To stop Eggman's robot!"

"Is Eggman attacking the city again?" Greg said out loud.

"No, his robot is stealing all the satellites." Greg looked behind him and saw Amy and Sierra coming his way.

"Stealing satellites you say, but their plane will never reach that high!" Greg stated.

"My point exactly." Sierra said crossing her arms and turning her head to the side.

Sonic and Tails had already caught up with E-90, who, to their luck, had lowered down to the needed height for them to reach it. The robot opened fire when the plane got closer. Tails avoided every blast, which was sent their way and tried to get closer to the robot.

"Don't overdo it, Tails." Sonic said from behind Tails.

"Don't worry about it." Tails approached the robot from behind and opened fire, instantly destroying one of its laser guns. The robot flew higher and disappeared behind the clouds.

"Fallow it." Sonic said when E-90 disappeared from their sight.

"Alright." They soon were flying above the clouds. The robot opened fire again, only this time several missiles were sent their way. Sonic jumped out of the plane and kicked the missiles, so they flew back towards the robot and exploded. But the missiles didn't even leave a scratch on the thick armour. After the smoke had cleared the robots giant metal mouth opened and started to suck everything in, including the plane.

"Get outta here, Tails!" Sonic commanded. Tails managed to fly away before they got sucked in. The robot was now following them as they flew higher.

"It's catching up." Sonic stated.

"I know." Tails answered. Suddenly the planes engine stopped working, because of the height, and the plane went down.

"Pull up, Tails!" Sonic shouted thru the wind.

"I'm trying!" Tails pulled at the controls as hard as he could and by a miracle he regained control of the plane just before they could crash into the ocean.

"That was a close one." Tails sighed with relieve.

"I'll say. Let's go back, there's no point in fighting that thing in the state we're in at the moment." Sonic commented. There was nothing left for them to do, only to return to the garage and think of a new plan.

Later that evening, in Greg's garage, Sonic, Tails and Greg were discussing the day's events.

"Eggman created a really powerful weapon." Greg commented. Tails looked sadly at his plane. It never failed them before, but he guessed it finally found its match.

"The Tornado isn't fast enough; we have to power it up somehow." Sonic stated.

"We could use the Chaos Emerald," Tails suggested "The only thing is….converting the energy."

"What do you mean?" Greg asked.

"The Chaos Emeralds contain incredible amounts of sealed energy," Tails explained "The problem is, how to harness it. If the converter can't contain 100% of it, then the excess will run wild."

"What can we do?" Greg thought out loud. The garage was filled with a depressing silence, each for different reasons, but all swimming around the same thing: How to burn down the energy?

"Why don't you just rebuild the plane, into a jet or something, so it could reach the stratosphere without any problems," a voice broke through the silence. Turning towards the speaker, they saw Sierra walk into the garage, holding the phone in her hand.

"A call for you, _Professor Lovett._" Sierra handed the phone to Greg, who nodded a 'thanks' to her, and walked a little away from the group to talk in private.

"What did you say about rebuilding the plane earlier?" Tails asked, now curious to know about the girls plan.

"Well, your plane didn't reach the robot, because it obviously wasn't made to fly that high in the sky, so why not rebuild the plane into something much faster, bigger and stronger."

"Rebuilding the plane into something bigger, I could put a spare engine with a conversion system, which will help to burn down the energy from the Emerald," Tails calculated everything in his head "That should work, Sierra you're a genius!"

"Yeah, whatever." She murmured, turning her head to the side to hide the small blush.

"So, you found a way yet?" Greg walked over to them after finishing his call. Tails nodded full of determination.

"Yeah, Sierra gave an awesome idea of how to burn down the energy from the Chaos Emerald," Tails happily smiled as he spoke about Sierra's plan. "We just have to rebuild the plane, make something bigger and faster!"

Greg laughed good naturedly as he agreed, "Oh yes, that's a great idea. If you and I work together we can do it!" Sierra raised an eyebrow in wonder.

"And how do you plan to do it?"

"By using my secret lab of course." He announced proudly. Sierra blinked in confusion. Secret lab?

"What secret lab?" she was curious to know. Greg simply laughed and led Tails to the back of the garage, where apparently was a secret elevator, which led to Greg's secret laboratory.

Sierra just couldn't believe it. So there was a lab under this garage all the time, and she didn't know anything about it? What ells was there, a bomb shelter under her music room maybe? Guess she wasn't the only one with secrets in this house.

"Nice idea with the plane, by the way." Sonic's voice interrupted her thoughts. She only now noticed that they were alone in the garage.

"Thank you." She replied simply, not even looking at the hedgehog.

"I see you're warming up, to our company." The hedgehog commented with his cocky, deep voice.

"Me? Hardly." She turned around and walked away from him.

"You can put on that 'Ice Queen' act all you want, but I'll still pull out the real you to the surface, and that's a promise." She stopped waking when he said that. His voice showed that he was determined to fulfil his promise. And that made her feel a little uneasy. How far could he go to keep that promise of his? No! He will **not** see thru her mask! She will not be controlled by anyone and especially by **him**!

"Good luck." With that said, she disappeared around the corner.

Sonic smiled to himself and shook his head in amusement. "_She is more stubborn, than Knuckles._"

**03:10 pm.**

Tails and Greg were still working hard on the plane down in Greg's lab. They couldn't allow themselves a break, because the plane must be ready till morning and they still had a lot of work to do before it's finished. Greg, of course, had to quit for the night, because of his old age he couldn't focus at this late hour without a proper rest.

"You should take a break," Greg suggested, approaching the little fox, who was still working hard on the plane.

"I know, but there's just a little left." Greg shook his head and left the lab, leaving the fox alone.

"Need some help?" Someone asked. Tails turned around and saw Sierra standing right behind him. She was wearing khaki pants and a black t-shirt. Her long brown hair was pulled into a high ponytail and she was smiling warmly at him.

"Oh, thank you, but its late and-….." Sierra interrupted him.

"….- and that is the reason why you need someone to help you, hun." Tails smiled at her offer. He would really appreciate some help.

"Are you sure, I mean, I don't want to keep you awake all night."

"I'm sure, I'll stay here with you till you finish that plane."

As the hours went by, Sierra and Tails worked together on the plane. Sierra would give Tails all the needed equipment and bring them snacks every hour. They would take a twenty minute break and chat about something. To Sierra's great surprise she enjoyed the little foxes' company.

"….so that's how we almost destroyed the plane the first time." Tails finished telling Sierra one of his adventures with Sonic. Sierra was sitting on a chair behind Tails, holding a cup of hot tea, and listening to his stories, while he worked on the plane.

"It sounds like you live an adventure every day." She smiled at the thought of living with friends and experiencing wild adventures with them. Yes, a girl can dream.

"Yeah, pretty much we do."

"Tails, may I ask how,…." She really didn't know how to ask him, but she was so damn curious to know "…..how you met Sonic?"

"Well, I was the first one, who met Sonic," he began telling his story, while continuing working on the plane "My home was on one of many islands in the middle of the ocean, they were simply called 'The South Islands,' one day a disaster hit the islands, many were killed, many had drowned, while trying to escape the islands by boat. I was too young to remember anything, so I don't know who attacked the islands and why. All I know is, that one day I woke up alone in the woods with no one around….I was four at that time and for two years I lived alone, on the streets you can say that, no one liked me, because I looked different."

"How is that?" Sierra interrupter him.

"Because of my twin tails, they, the other kids, called me a freak. They made fun of me, beat me and many other awful things. I didn't know who my parents were I didn't know anything, and that terrified me."

"I'm sorry, Tails, if I knew the story would bring you bad memories, I wouldn't have asked." Sierra tried to apologise. She couldn't believe that someone so young had to go thru something so terrible like that.

"No, it's alright, I wanted to tell you and it only lasted for two years." He said quietly with a small smile.

"Two years is a long time to be alone." She replied just as quietly as he. Tails chuckled softly and continued his story.

"Anyway, one day while walking along the shore, I found a red plane. I really loved planes, so without a second thought I started to explore the plane, made a few adjustments so the plane could fly faster, changed the planes colour, I was to young and to stupid to understand, that the plane had to belong to someone and that someone could get furious with me if they see what have I done to the plane, but I didn't care at that moment, and that's when I was caught by the owner of the plane."

"I can imagine how scared you were." Sierra said with a half smile.

"You have no idea, I didn't know, should I run away, or should I apologise."

"And was that someone….."

"Sonic, yes, it was him." Tails replied smiling at the memory "I probably looked so pathetic at that moment, all dirty and with a few injures, which were visible on my fur. I was shocked and surprised when he complimented my paint job and my skills as a mechanic. I wasn't use to kindness, to be hones, I didn't even knew what it was, because all my life I lived alone, so I didn't trust Sonic at first. To thank me for the work I've done, he invited me to his small house in a place called 'Mystic Ruins.'"

"Was it far away?"

"Yes, you have to fly over the ocean. I didn't agree at first, because I never left the island and I wasn't going to fly over the ocean with a stranger, but after I told him, that I was living here alone for a long time, he didn't even listen to my complains, he simply took me to Mystic Ruins, to his home and took care of me. Cleaned my injuries and gave me real food. Then I learned what kindness really was. He didn't made fun of my two tails, he said they were cool, he let me live with him, even thou he didn't knew me at all, he gave me a chance to live my life and not just exist somewhere in the world, he gave me a chance and I took it. So here I am today, living happily with Sonic and all my other friends."

Sierra was really touched by his story. The little guy went thru so much pain, but at least he had a happy ending to his tragic story. And all thanks to Sonic.

"And what is your story?" Tails interrupted her thoughts.

"What?"

"Well, I told you my story now you tell me yours, I dont think it was as bad as mine." Sierra really didn't want to tell anyone about her life, but it was only fair to tell him her life story, but she won't tell him **everything** of course.

"First, I want to ask you, what did Greg told you about my parents?" She had to know, how much he told them about her.

"He only told us, that they are famous, your Mom is a singer and your Dad, a movie star if I remember correctly." Her Dad was a bastard, but she won't tell him that, of course.

"Right, because of their work, they rarely stayed home. At first, that really bothered me, but with time, I accepted it. I went to a normal public school, so I could make normal friends and not spoiled and rich ones, but that what the kids thought I was when I went there, a spoiled and a rich little brat. They didn't want to do anything with me, I was invisible to them, but a few years later, I became their Idol, because they realised, that maybe having a friend from a rich and famous family will be cool."

"But that's awful, how can you judge a person by their wealth?" Tails asked her in disbelieve.

"They did, and to this day, they still act all sweet and friendly around me. Only I don't want anything to do with them anymore, I don't want friends, who silently cant stand me and are lying to me just to get what they want."

"I'm sorry to hear this, but then how did you met, Elora?"

"Oh, well, I….I went to camp one summer and there I met her." She lied. She couldn't tell him, that hey met at the music school, when she first began her career as a singer.

"I see…and Greg, you two don't seem to be real close." Tails asked carefully.

"I….to be hones, I don't know what we are to each other anymore," She chuckled half-heartedly "I don't know what made him like that, what made him so distant, what made him leave me behind like my parents did, and now, I just want to continue living my life with or without them."

A heavy silence followed afterwards. Each was lost in they're own thoughts, but still swimming around the same subject. After a good ten minutes of silence, Sierra spoke.

"So, how is the plane going?" a stupid question to ask, when you just told someone your tragic life story, but she was sure that he wont mind if they change the subject.

"It's almost finished, just a little bit more." He turned to the plane.

"Well then, let's get to work."

**08:15 am.**

"I can't believe we did it." Sierra commented as she looked at the now finished silver jet plane.

"Yeah, but I couldn't have done it without your help, thank you so much, Sierra." Tails smiled sweetly at the girl. "But how could we name it?" Sierra already had an excellent name for the plane.

"The blue plane was called the 'Tornado,' right?"

"Yes"

"This plane looks nothing like the old 'Tornado,' so why not name it the 'X-Tornado.'" Sierra suggested. She watched as a big smile appeared on Tails face. Guess he liked it.

"It's a wonderful name. Sierra you're the best!" He hugged her around the waits. She was shocked by this action of his. When was the last time she hugged someone or was hugged? Long time ago.

"Right, why don't you tell all your friends, that the plane is ready." She gave him a nervous smile. He nodded and ran to call everyone. She decided to watch the plane for a few more minutes. She had to admit, the plane looked awesome, she still had troubles believing that they managed to make it overnight, but they did. She heard someone whistle from the elevator and turned and saw Greg walking closer to the plane.

"This is amazing, a piece of art if I must say." He said amazed on how well the plane was made.

"Glad you like it." Sierra walked past him towards the elevator. He was still running around the plane, like a kid on a Christmas morning.

"Tails really outdone himself, the kid is amazing!" Sierra simply rolled her eyes and murmured a 'whatever' before walking into the elevator and disappearing from Greg's sight.

Fifteen minutes later, everyone stood outside the garage doors, eager to see the new plane. Greg pushed a button on his remote control and a giant elevator appeared under the garage with their new plane.

"This is the X-Tornado." Tails announced proudly. Amy and Cream gasped after they saw the beautiful jet plane.

"Tails, the plane is simply amazing." Sonic couldn't find the right words to describe the plane. It was beautiful, big and strong just what they needed.

"Sierra named the plane, she even helped me build it." Tails said happily. Sonic looked towards Sierra, who acted as if she didn't heard anything. From the corner of her eye, she saw him looking at her, but she just kept looking ahead of her. What was he thinking at the moment? Sonic shook his head and turned his head toward the plane, all the while wearing his cocky smile. "_The girl is full of wonders._"

"Alright, Sonic we can go now." Tails said, walking toward the plane. Sonic nodded and fallowed Tails before suddenly stopping.

"Want to come along?" he turned to face Sierra. She was a little taking back by the sudden offer. Why would he want her to come along?

"Why?" she ignored his question.

"You helped to build the plane, you named it, so you just have to try it out now." Sonic said with an I-will-get-my-way smile. Tails seemed to be more than happy to take her for the ride.

"That's a great idea, c'mon, Sierra, I promise you'll like it." Tails eyes were simply begging her to go and she just couldn't say 'no' to him.

"Well, alright, if you insist." She walked over to the plane and Tails helped her get up and into the seat behind him. Sonic jumped into one of the extra seats in the back. After they were seated and put on their seatbelts, Tails started the engine.

"Stand-by for launch." Greg pushed another button on his remote and the trees on the runaway tipped down, so there would be enough space for the planes wings.

"Did he tell you, what ells he hides under this garage of his?" Sierra asked after she saw the 'tree system.'

"No, I'm just as surprised us you are." Tails replied looking at Greg's handiwork.

"Alright, let's do it. X-Tornado, launch!" after the plane took maximum speed, they took off. The ride was a little bumpy at first as the plane flew higher into the sky at great speed.

Unnoticed to them, Dr. Robotnik was watching their every move on his computer screen.

"Doctor, something is headed towards E-90!" said a yellow robot.

"Wow, it's so fast!" stated a gray robot. Eggman laughed, while rubbing his hands together in a sinister kind of way.

"The hedgehog and the baby fox, is it?" he asked with a devilish smirk "Good, this time we'll go out and greet them."

A set of missiles was sent toward the plane, but Tails managed to dodge every single one of them. When they flew closer to the robot, Sonic jumped out of the plane and landed on the robot. Tails destroyed a few of laser guns, but one gun was stronger and bigger, it prevented Tails from getting any closer to the robot.

"At this rate I can't get any closer." Tails stated, looking for a way to get closer to the robot without being shoot down. Sonic saw, that Tails had some troubles, so he ran straight for the laser gun as fast as he could and went thru it, making it explode. He jumped on top of the planes wings, when the plane flew by.

The robot flew higher and was now close to the stratosphere.

"He's going higher." Sierra noted.

"We're approaching the stratosphere." Tails explained.

"But, wait, what about Sonic? He won't be able to breath there!" Tails smiled, even thou she couldn't see it.

"Don't worry, we can even breathe in open space." Sierra gasped in shock. They can breathe in open space?

"That's incredible." She murmured.

"I'm guessing your kind can't if you're asking?"

"Not even close, some people even die if the fall out of the second floor window!" Sierra explained. She looked towards Sonic, and her eyes widened, when she saw him completely frozen.

"Tails, Sonic is completely frozen!" She informed him.

"What?"

At that moment the robot fired another set of missiles at them. "I can't release the ring." Tails murmured to himself. "_This is bad, if Sonic is frozen and can't get out, we're done for!_" Tails desperately tried to think of a way out. He suddenly got an idea.

"Sierra, listen closely," a glowing ring appeared in front of her "There is a yellow cable behind your seat, please attach the ring to it!" Without asking questions, she took the ring and tried to reach the cable.

"Almost got it." she murmured. She reached the cable and attached the ring to it. The ring suddenly began to glow with warm light. Power from the ring went thru the cable and reached the wings where Sonic was. He felt as the rings power went thru his body and he was able to break out of his icy prison.

"The fun start's now!" Sonic cheered. "Head for the missiles." Sonic commanded.

"Okay!" Tails turned around the plane and was now flying straight for the upcoming missiles. Sonic jumped from the wing and using the rings power, destroyed all of the missiles. He, then using his spin dash attack, destroyed the giant robot from the inside.

"We did it!" Tails cried out happily. Sierra watched as the robot exploded. "_Guess we did._" She thought with a small smile.

Later that night, Sierra was lying in her bed, deep in thoughts. Today was an interesting day. She probably won't admit to them, but she had fun today, despite the danger they were in. She was surprised at how strong Sonic was. "_He acts so easy-going, but __in times of crisis, he focuses intensely on the challenge, as if his personality had undergone an astonishing change_." She still wasn't sure about the hedgehog, something about him scared her. She didn't know what, but just being near him makes her feel so weak. And she hates to feel weak!

His words, from earlier today, were still fresh in her mind:

"_You can put on that 'Ice Queen' act all you want, but I'll still pull out the real you to the surface, and that's a promise._"

It was hard to keep the walls up around him, but she didn't care how much his friends admired him, she will **not **open up to him! She will **not** be weak!


	11. A day in Dragon Valley

**Authors Note:**Yes! I finally finished this chapter. Sorry for the wait, but I wanted to make it as interesting as possible. This chapter also gives just a bit of background on some things. I promise more, but this was just a fun, not so little, chapter to write. Also, thank you so much once again for all the love. If it wasn't for you, I probably wouldn't have tried this hard, but I want to please you all, so I try my best!

Enjoy this chapter and review! (Your reviews make me all happy inside ;3)

With Love, Amethyst

* * *

The next morning, the sky was bright and blue and the sun shining. Sierra inhaled the fresh air as she walked to the train station: this was going to be a beautiful day. She would be able to forget her worries. Smiling a bit to herself, she stepped inside the building.

She wanted to spend this day alone, far away from everyone. She decided to go to Dragon Valley. It was a two hour train ride, but she didn't care how long it took her to get there, she just wanted to get away from the city. She took her textbook with her, where she wrote her songs, with her. Maybe she will get some work done, while relaxing in the fresh air.

Sierra boarded the train and took an empty seat by the window. After twenty minutes of silently sitting by the window, she took out her textbook from her black and pink bag. She went thru a few songs, some of them she sang and some didn't. Turning a few more pages, one song caught her attention. It was a song which she wrote about a year ago. She still remembered when she wrote it. Her mother took her to one of hers concerts, which was held in France, and late one evening, while her mother was still at some kind of party, she was alone in their hotel room, and feeling lonely she decided to write a song.

The song was a little depressing, she knew that, but it made her feel better after she wrote it. The song was called 'The Diary,' ironically, but back then, she wrote all of her feelings into this song. And after she finished it, she decided to name it 'The Diary,' because she felt as if she was talking to a diary about her feelings. Reading the song again, all the old feelings returned to her:

**C****us I don't wanna be like this.  
I've been runnin these streets, for too long now.  
I've got nothing thats true, but this song now, but the further I go….  
I wanna go home.**

**I swear that I care, but its hard when you stare.  
Into the bottom of a bottle, that is empty and bare.  
All my desolate soul, in my desolate home,  
it's my desolate role.  
Yeah I'm here all alone.  
I can't think of a reason to get out of bed.  
Curtains closed, lights are off.  
Am I alive or dead?  
I haven't laughed in a week.  
I always slur when I speak.  
Tolerance at its peak, another fit just to sleep.  
Oh woe is me woe is me.  
I guess I need love.  
hoes ya see hoes ya see.  
I'm just in a rut and I swear I'm tryin baby please,  
Baby don't leave.  
So I sit in my room and I'll cry in my bed.  
Thinkin about all the bad things, that made me wrong in my head.  
I keep tryin to climb, but it seems so steep.  
Blow out the candle, and go back to sleep...  
**

**I watch my momma cry****. She says 'baby why?'  
I say 'baby died,  
baby's gone like a suicide'  
I don't think you'll see her soon, mom.  
Stay out my room, mom.  
Tell daddy that I hate him, like myself, mom.  
I sing this for you.  
These tears keep gettin warmer.  
Everytime that I hold her.  
I pour this out for you, like a partner in crime.  
It's part of the times, when you're sick in the mind.  
Yeah I'm sick, oh so sick.  
I'm so sick of this things.  
Yeah I'm lit, oh so lit.  
I'm so tired off it.  
So I stumble around, til I stumble fall down,  
to this puddle of my tears,  
layin here on the ground.**

**W****hen you've got nothing left, you've got nothing left to lose.  
With my last left single breath, I'll still be singing to you.  
So when you bury me, you better bury me deep,  
and sing along to this song,  
because you're broken like me.**

**And I wanna go back to the start****.  
Back where we started from.**

**And I know it's been so long****.  
I was wrong, I was wrong  
I was wrong all along….**

_Pain and hard punches racked her little__ body, and she fell to the ground. _

"_You are pathetic.__"__ a cold__ voice said. "Why did we take you in?" _

_Heart racing, her__ hot red cheeks stinging from the pain. Why is this happening? What have she done to deserve this? _

"_No, please stop!" she yelled, covering her face in fear. _

_Make it stop….Oh, God make it stop!_

"_Shut up, you ungrateful child!" the cold voice shouted, more pain reaching her body._

"_Why are you doing this to me?" the girl asked, tears of blood running down her pale face. _

"_Because you are weak, you were always weak!" Another slap over the face. _

"…_.please stop. I'm not weak."_

"_You are just like that stupid doll of yours, breaks by a simple fall!" _

"_Stop, I'm not weak!"_

"_Why didn't we get a boy instead? He wouldn't have turned out to be a crybaby like you. " More pain from the outside and inside._

"_I'M NOT WEAK__!"_

Sierra woke with a start and stared around the almost empty train car. It was only a nightmare. She sighed and leaned deeper into her seat, putting a trembling hand to her sweaty forehead.

"_Oh, God why did that awful memory had to return? Didn't I suffer enough already?_" She pressed her face to the cold window glass and watched the passing scene.

She dreaded that day, she dreaded that day, when he hit her, when he told her all those awful things, when she cried all night, terrified, bruised and broken. It was a long time ago; all the bruises had long since healed, but the bruise he left on the inside, will forever stay there.

What did she do to deserve such a life? Why couldn't she live in a normal family, where a mother is always by your side, if you need her, where a father spoils you with his love and affection, where you never feel lonely or unloved? Why couldn't she have all that! Why, to this day, she has to solve her problems by herself and live like a total stranger in her own house? Why?

She sighed again and closed her eyes. What's the point in all of this anyway? She will never get what she really wished for, so why torture yourself over it. She was doomed from the very beginning.

Twenty minutes later, her train finally reached Dragon Valley.

Dragon Valley was like a miniature Japan outside New York City. There were a few small villages in the forest and one big village in the centre of the valley. People from all around the world came here to see the wonderful temple, which was in the village and served as a holy place for the locals.

She first came here six months ago, here she had one of her concerts and after visiting this place for the first time she simply had to return again. This place resembled a whole new world and that was why she loved it so much. She felt as if she had entered a completely different world, where no one knows who you are, and no one's here to stop you.

After leaving the station, Sierra decided to go for a walk in the forest. The forest served as a camping site for tourists, so you could usually see family's camping in these woods. Sierra had to agree, if there was a place, where she would want to camp, it would defiantly be here.

While she walked thru the forest, she decided to sing to lighting up the mood:

**Grew up in a small town**

**And when the rain would fall down**

**I'd just stare out my window**

**Dreamin' of what could be**

**And if I'd end up happy**

**I would pray**

**Trying hard to reach out**

**But when I tried to speak out**

**Felt like no one could hear me**

**Wanted to belong here**

**But something felt so wrong here**

**So I prayed I could breakaway**

She reached the river, and continued her walk down the shore.

**I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly**

**I'll do what it takes till I touch the sky**

**And I'll make a wish, take a chance, make a change**

**And breakaway**

**Out of the darkness and into the sun**

**But I won't forget all the ones that I love**

**I'll take a risk, take a chance, make a change**

**And breakaway**

**Wanna feel the warm breeze**

**Sleep under a palm tree**

**Feel the rush of the ocean**

**Get on board a fast train**

**Travel on a jetplane, far away**

**And breakaway**

She smiled at the thought of freedom. She would give up everything she has, just to be free, to runaway somewhere far, where no one knows you, where you could start from the beginning, where you have a second chance, where you are free, like a bird in the sky.

**I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly**

**I'll do what it takes till I touch the sky**

**And I'll make a wish, take a chance, make a change**

**And breakaway**

**Out of the darkness and into the sun**

**I won't forget all the ones that I love**

**I gotta take a risk, take a chance, make a change**

**And breakaway**

**Buildings with a hundred floors**

**Swinging round revolving doors**

**Maybe I don't know where they'll take me**

**But, gotta keep moving on, moving on**

**Fly away, breakaway**

She reached the lake and looked around. The lake was big and the morning sun made the water sparkle, like little diamonds. The whole area was surrounded by trees and even a few of them grew on a little island in the lake.

**I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly**

**Though it's not easy to tell you goodbye, gotta**

**Take a risk, take a chance, make a change**

**And breakaway**

**Out of the darkness and into the sun**

**But I won't forget the place I come from**

**I gotta take a risk, take a chance, make a change**

**And breakaway**

**Breakaway**

**Breakaway...**

She smiled and took out her light pink sunglasses from her bag and put them on. The weather was simply wonderful, she was glad that she decided to come here. Taking out her cell phone, she turned it off and put it back into her skirt pocked. She didn't want anyone looking for her, she wanted to get away from everyone for today.

After thirty minutes of just walking around and enjoying the pleasant weather, she heard a weak cry from the forest. Curious to find out where it came from, she went deeper into the forest, before she reached a small pond, with giant rocks surrounding it. A small whimper was heard from behind those rocks. Slowly, Sierra walked towards those rocks, not sure what will she find behind them. Maybe a lost child, who went to play in the woods and got lost. Reaching the rocks she was shocked to see there sitting a small creature, who looked awfully a lot like….

"Ch-cheese?" She said in disbelieve. The little creature moved a little away from her in fear.

"What are you doing here?" She looked around; expecting the rabbit girl to come running to her, along with her other friends, but there was no one around. The forest was quiet.

"Chao, chao." The creature said quietly. Sierra turned back to the small creature and only then did she noticed a small wound on his little paw.

"Oh, you hurt your paw," she kneeled down besides the creature "let me help you." She found a small pink handkerchief in her bag and wrapped it around the creatures injured paw.

"There, all better now." The little creature looked up at her. She seemed pretty nice. He happily cued in its own language and jumped up to wrap its little arms around Sierra's neck and rubbed its baby blue face up against Sierra's own. Sierra couldn't help but smile at the little creature's antics. She then noticed something strange. This creature was much bigger than Cheese and he didn't wear a red bow like Cheese did.

"Where did you came from?" Using his small wings, the little creature flew deeper in the woods, and then stopped to wait till the girl catches up to him. Sierra stood up and fallowed the creature deeper into the forest. When they reached a small cave the creature stooped and pointed at the cave and then flew inside. Sierra was nervous about entering the cave. What will she find there? Taking a deep breath she entered the cave. The cave was dark and cold, but she saw the exit far ahead. When she came out of the cave, she gasped in shock.

"What?" Sierra blindly asked. Looking in front of her, she saw a lush green field lit up by a soft blue sky. Clouds were occasional, but not prevalent; it was like something out of a painting...! The green grass was full of life_, _swaying beautifully in the soft wind. The flower field was covered in beautiful flowers of every kind: red roses, yellow daffodils, gracidea flowers; she even saw flowers she never knew existed, or flowers that were miscolored, such as the purple roses scattered here and there. But the most amazing sight was in the middle of this beautiful 'painting,' a crystal clear pond, with many small creatures, who looked allot like Cheese.

"This is incredible." She whispered as she came closer. "This place...it's so beautiful..."

"Chao, chao!" Sierra turned around and faced the same small creature, who led her here. The creature was pointing at the pond. Sierra walked toward the pond and saw something shiny lying on the bottom.

"What's that?" A wave of dizziness overtook her and she sank down to the soft grass near the pond. "_Oh, what's wrong with me today?_" She shook her head slowly. Well now…if this isn't all just stomach-turningly PEACHY. So much for her idea of relaxing for the day.

"Chao, chao." She raised her head and gasped at the sight before her. The little creature was holding a beautiful aquamarine colored gem in his small hands and that gem was….

"A-a Chaos Emerald?" She said in disbelieve.

"Chao!" Sierra looked at the creature and then at the emerald. "You want me to have it?" she asked.

"Chao, chao!" he said happily. Sierra slowly reached out and took the precious gem into her hand. The emerald suddenly began to glow softly in her hand. As if in a trance she closed her eyes….

_Night. A cosy house. __A child sleeping in her bed._

_A fire. A women running into the room and taking the child with her. _

"_Close your eyes." Spoke the woman with forced calm. "Keep them closed and don't be scared." _

_The women put the child down "Run outside and get far away from the house." She said. _

_The child ran towards the door. The door was in flames. The child was scared. She ran to the window. It was high up. Opening her small wings she tried to fly, but ended up gliding for a few minutes before falling to the ground. _

_The house was completely in flames. The child ran into the forest. She didn't stop running until the fire and smoke were out of view. _

_Morning. The house was gone. Everything was gone. Even her parents. The child walked away. _

_Night. Big city. The child sleeping in a dark alley. _

_Morning. The child stole some bread. A blanket. A pair of shoes. Few fruits._

_She was alone. No one cares. No one helps. _

"_You disgusting little rat, watch where you're going!" The child turns away. __"Go back to the dump where you came from!"_

_Night. The child went that far as to steal some jewels. Years later. __The child was put on the wanted list._

"_Let the people know about me." The child said. _"_Let them know that I, am not to be tempered with_. _Whatever I want, I get. Because no one has ever been through what I've been through!" _

Sierra gasped and dropped the emerald. It happened again. It's the second time she had a vision when she touched a Chaos Emerald. What are they, cursed or something? But this vision was much clearer that the first one she had. Did she see the future or some kind of fragment from the past? And if so, then whom past was it?

She sat in silence and just stared at the emerald, which she dropped. Many small birds, chirping a melodius tune, flew by her, tweeting happily. She ignored everything around her, no emotions showed on her face. After a few minutes she picked up the emerald, from the ground, and put it inside her bag. She will return it to its 'owners' like she did the first time.

Sierra sighed and once again looked around the beautiful place. The creatures didn't seem to be afraid of her, because they were playing happily in the pound. She couldn't believe how many of them were here and they all looked practically the same.

"What are you?" she said aloud.

"Those are, Chao." A deep voice said. Sierra turned to the speaker and saw a red echidna standing by the cave entrance. She was surprised to see him here. So, did that mean that Elora was here with him as well?

"You're Sierra, right?" He came close to her. Sierra didn't want to be rude, but she honestly couldn't remember his name, so she just replied with a simple 'Yes.' When he stopped before her, he looked around, as if looking for someone.

"Are you alone here?" he asked when he didn't find anyone except for her. Another 'Yes,' was heard from her. An awkward silence followed afterwards, before a familiar voice broke it.

"Knuckles, where are you?" the echidna turned towards the cave and called back.

"I'm by the pound." A few minutes later a girl with long brown hair came out of the cave. She was wearing a light green blouse with a black ribbon tied around her neck and a dark green miniskirt with matching black shoes. When the girl spotted them she smiled in delight.

"Sierra, it's so nice to finally see you." Elora came their way, the smile never leaving her face.

"It's…..nice to see you as well." Sierra answered after a few more seconds. Elora, much like Knuckles, looked around in hopes of seeing some familiar faces, but found no one. She looked down at Sierra, who was still sitting on the grass, and send her a confused look.

"You're here alone?" she asked the same question as Knuckles. Sierra only nodded this time, except of answering. Is it really such a surprise to find her here all by herself?

"With whom were you excepting to see me?" Sierra asked, even though she didn't care to hear the answer.

"Well actually, with Sonic." She said disappointedly. "_As if!_" Sierra snorted in her mind.

"And why did you thought that?" Sierra asked, glaring at the girl with her arms crossed.

"Well you are living together." She pointed out the obvious. Sierra turned her head to the side and frowned.

"So?….that doesn't mean we should be next to each other twenty four hours a day." Knuckles immediately noticed the bitterness in her voice, but decided not to say anything about it. For now anyway.

"Alright, sorry, never mind I asked." Elora tried to apologise to her stubborn friend. Sometimes it's really hard to understand Sierra.

"How did you find this place?" Knuckles, who had been silent up till now, asked. Sierra looked at him and then turned towards the pound, where the creatures, or Chao, played happily in the water.

"I found one of them injured in the forest and after helping him out, he led me here."

"I see…..it was very kind of you, Sierra." Knuckles commented. Sierra didn't say anything in response she just watched the Chao play.

"Well, I have enough food with me, so why don't we have a picnic." Elora smiled warmly in hopes to cheer up her two friends.

Sierra sighed and took another bite of her apple. She agreed to have a picnic with them, so here they were, sitting on a blanked, and enjoying the meal, which Elora bought in town. After about an hour, Elora decided to go and play with the Chao and Sierra was left alone with Knuckles. Neither of them said a word for a good ten minutes, until Sierra broke the beautiful silence.

"How do you know about this place?" Her gaze was fixed on the pound when she asked.

Knuckles was quiet for a minute before finally answering, "Me and Elora accidentally found it, while exploring the woods a couple of days ago."

"Did you," she paused for a second before continuing "Find anything ells, except for the Chao?" The question surprised Knuckles and he turned to her with a confuse look on his face.

"What do you mean?"

"Today, before you two got here, the Chao, whom I helped, gave me a Chaos Emerald." Knuckles eyes widened upon hearing this.

"You have a Chaos Emerald?" he demanded to know. Sierra didn't answer him, she simply took out the emerald from her bag and tossed it to him.

"You say a Chao gave it to you?" he asked in disbelieve. Sierra simply nodded her head. There was still one thing bothering her and maybe Knuckles will be able to answer some questions for her.

"Can you tell me about the Chaos Emeralds please?" He turned to her, the emerald glowed softly in his hands.

"What do you want to know?" Sierra thought about what she really wanted to know, and what best to keep silent about, before answering him.

"How are you and the emeralds involved with one another?"

"Didn't Sonic tell you that?" Sierra had a big urge to roll her eyes. Well it wasn't like she asked.

"No." was her dry reply.

"How about I tell you our story from the beginning?" Knuckles suggested. Sierra was surprised to hear him say that. Did he trust her enough to tell everything about him and his friends?

"You would really tell me your story? You don't have to if you don't-…"

"-No, I trust you enough to tell you everything about us." Knuckles stated. Sierra kept quiet and let him speak.

"It's strange really, but the one thing which brought us all together was pain."

"Pain?" Sierra asked quietly. Knuckles nodded and continued his story.

"Our painful pasts. We all suffered somehow in the past and that what lead us to become this close as we are today." Knuckles was silent for a minute, before continuing, "I was the second person, who met Sonic. As far back as I can remember…I've been living on a dark island, which hovered in the sky, always guarding the Master Emerald from anything that could harm it. I don't know why I was given this job, why it was my fate, destined to be there…forever."

"What is the Master Emerald?" She decided to distract him from his painful memories.

"Little is known about the origin of the Master Emerald except that it resides in a shrine on Angel Island, the hovering island where I lived, for an unspecified amount of time," Knuckles explained "The legends say that it was created by the gods, because they saw that people are using the Chaos Emeralds for evil, and equipped the gem to be able to negate the energy of the Chaos Emeralds. It has been in existence for thousands of years."

"The Master Emerald has unbound and infinite power, and is used to keep Angel Island afloat in the sky. The Emerald also has the power to fully control everything that the Chaos Emeralds do. The Emerald also possesses the ability to both negate and empower Chaos Emeralds, meaning it can stop the energy of the Chaos Emeralds, or enhance them. If the Master Emerald is broken into several pieces, it can repair itself if the shards are brought back together."

"So it's indestructible then?"

"Yes, it is, and so are the Chaos Emeralds." Knuckled stated. "But the Master Emerald isn't the only thing which can control the Chaos Emeralds."

"It's not?"

Knuckles shook his head, "No, there is another legend, which states, that there are three Chosen Ones, who have the ability to fully control and unleash the real powers of the Chaos Emeralds, even one of them can do it if he has all of the seven emeralds, but there is a twist of course." Knuckles said with a smirk.

"And what is that?" Sierra questioned him.

"All of the seven Chaos Emeralds have their chosen Guardians, who have the ability to control the Emeralds, and if they truly think that the Chosen Ones deserve the power of the Emeralds, they will surrender all of their powers to them. To simply put it into words, without the Guardians the Chosen Ones won't be able to unleash the true power of the Emeralds."

"But what if they were tricked into giving away the power to a bad person?"

"Ah, but the Chosen Ones are suppose to be pure hearted, if an evil person obtains the emeralds, he will unleash all the negative energy from them and that could be a disaster."

"And what doest it has to do with you and your friends?" Sierra tried to figure it out. Knuckles smirked and closed his eyes, "I am responsible of guarding the Master Emerald and Sonic is one of the seven Chaos Guardians." He stated.

Sierra almost choked on her apple. She swallowed hard and looked at Knuckles in disbelieve.

"S-Sonic is one of the Guardians?" she asked again, hoping that she misunderstood him at first.

"That's right." Sierra didn't know how to feel about this situation. This is **too** much to handle!

"So the legend is true?" she dreaded asking.

"Well, yes if we have one Guardian already, so there should be another six somewhere." Sierra really wanted to smack herself. What has she gotten herself into?

"And how did you know that Sonic was one of the Guardians?"

"When Sonic used the power of a blue Emerald to increase his speed, he saw a vision of a water like creature and he told him, that he was one of the seven Guardians."

"Aha….and how did you two met if you don't mind me asking?" Sierra decided to change the subject before she complete freaks out. Talking about **Chaos** wasn't her idea of a nice picnic!

"I don't mind," Knuckled sighed and began telling his story "Like I said earlier, I was given the job of protecting the Master Emerald on Angel Island. I don't know who gave such orders, I only remember seeing a vision, where a voice told me to guard the Emerald or something terrible will happen. Well, not having anyone there with me, I agreed to guard the Emerald, but as time passed, I became really lonely. No one was there with me. I was completely alone. For years I sat there, on that shrine, guarding the Emerald. No one ever came there. One day, I got pissed off and decided to leave the island, I didn't want my life to go by on that stupid island, so I left."

"For a week I explored the world, for the first time. Not once did I think about the island and the Emerald. I was free, completely free…..until, one day…someone tried to steal the Master Emerald, and that someone was Eggman." Knuckles stopped for a moment.

"And what happened then?" Sierra asked when Knuckles didn't continue. She understood how hard it must be for him to remember his past.

"Eggman stole the Master Emerald and the island crashed into the ocean. The big waves, it created, destroyed all of the villages, which were near the ocean, many died….and it was all my fault." Another dead silence fallowed. This time Sierra didn't say anything. She will understand if he doesn't continue telling his story. She probably wouldn't have the strength to finish such a tragic story as well…But it shocked her when Knuckles continued telling.

"I didn't know what to do at that time. I wanted to go after Eggman and take back the Emerald, but I kept telling myself, what's the point of it, if the disaster was already done. Back then I didn't know the true powers of the Emerald. I didn't know that if I don't return the Emerald soon, I bigger disaster will happen. But someone did and that someone was Sonic." Knuckles smiled at the memory "He and Tails appeared on their plane the Tornado and offered to help me. Not knowing what to do, I agreed. The three of us stopped Eggman and returned the Emerald back on Angel Island. I asked if there was anything I could do to repay them, but instead they asked if I was living on that island alone. When I said yes, Sonic offered to come and live with them. I really wanted to go, but then I remembered that my hands were already stained with blood of many innocent people who died because of my selfishness."

"So with a heave hart, I refused. I didn't tell them why, I just said, that I liked it there, that I liked to be left alone. Those words killed me inside. There at that moment, I had a chance to make friends and start living my life, and I had to throw it all away because of my duty as a protector…..They left after that. Once again, I was left alone on that island. I really couldn't believe that all my life, I would have to sit there and guard that stupid rock. It was a scary, and saddening, thought. Living on a cold, dark island…guarding something…being alone… forever."

"A month later, Sonic and Tails returned to the island. I was really surprised to see them. When I asked why did they returned, Sonic merely smirked and said, no, more like commanded, to pack my things and come live with them. Once gain I had to say those awful words. I was given a second chance and, yet again, I had to refuse. But what I wasn't aware of, was that Sonic and Tails, were already prepared for my arrival to their little family."

"I learned that, Tails was a mechanic and a pretty damn intelligent kid and he made some kind of security system, which will tell us when someone approaches the island. That was why they didn't come by for a whole month, they were thinking of a way for me to come live with them and at the same time protect the island from any intruders. At that moment, I couldn't refuse their offer, I came with them."

"Their house was small, but it was okay for the three of us." Knuckles paused for a second and with a small smile finished his story "I probably would still be there, alone on that island, it wasn't for Sonic."

When Knuckles finished telling his story, Sierra looked down at her lap, deep in thoughts. That was the second person telling her how Sonic changed their lives from total hell to; well for them it would have been heaven. Well at least there was another happy ending. That means that Knuckles, wasn't doomed to stay alone forever, it wasn't his fate to begin with.

"Elora told me about you." Knuckles said, interrupting her thoughts. Sierra froze in place. What **did** she tell **him** about **her**?

"And what did she tell you?" she tried to act as calm as she could. This is **not** the relaxing she had in mind!

"Not much. She told me about your family. Mentioned, that they work all the time. Told me, that she was lucky to have you as a friend."

"Oh, I'm happy to have her as a fried as well." Sierra said honestly. She was lucky to have her, oh, so damn lucky! She really should thank her someday. For being there when she needs her and helps her keep her secret, well, a secret.

"So, do you getting along with Sonic and the others?" Sierra frowned when he asked her that. Can she forget about them for a day at least?

"I am very busy with my school work, so I don't really have the time." She lied "I only had the pleasure of spending the time with Tails and Cream." Well that part was the truth. But with Cream, she wouldn't really call that a pleasant time spending day.

"I see." Was all Knuckles said.

"Hey guys," They saw Elora running towards them "why don't we go to town and buy more food?" she offered.

"Alright." Sierra replied simply and stood up from the blanket. Knuckled did the same and after gathering all of their belongings, they made their way towards the town.

"Did this Chao Garden appear with you?" Sierra asked while they walked thru the forest.

"Probably." Knuckles answered.

"But what if the humans find it?" Sierra really didn't want the humans to put them in some kind of cage and use them for their experiments.

"Don't worry me and Knuckles will come by here every now and then to see if their alright." Sierra nodded and didn't say anything ells. Somehow she knew that Elora and Knuckles will do a good job of protecting those small creatures.

When they came closer to the town, they saw smoke coming from a few houses. People were running around screaming, looking for a place to hide.

"What happened here?" Elora asked the first person who ran past them.

"A-a giant robot thing is attacking the town, run while you still can!" the man ran into the woods to hide from the thing he saw.

"We have to help them!" Elora said and ran toward the town. "Elora, wait!" the girl ignored Sierra's call.

"Let's go." Knuckles grabbed Sierra's hand and ran after Elora.

Elora had no troubles in finding the thing, which everyone was afraid of. There, in the towns centre, was a giant robot, demolishing the houses with Eggman, hovering in his Egg-machine, not to far away from it.

"Oh, no that robot will destroy the whole town." She said aloud.

"Elora!" She looked behind her and saw Knuckles running towards her and dragging Sierra behind him.

"Don't you dare do that again, you hear me, Elora," he exclaimed "Eggman is dangerous and there is no telling what he can do to us!"

"Alright, I won't, sorry." She apologised to her overprotective friend.

"What is he doing here anyway?" Sierra asked after she pulled her hand away from Knuckles iron grip.

"I don't care what is he doing here, I'll get rid of him!" Knuckles ran to where Eggman and his robot were.

Eggman, or Dr. Ivo Robotnick to be specific, was looking over the small town that was below him. He grinned an evil smile as he stroked his moustache gracefully. If the town's people won't give him the Chaos Emerald, he'll turn this town into ruins in less that an hour. Eggman turned to his robot, which had just finished destroying a small Chinese house.

"E-88, did you catch the signal of the Chaos Emerald yet?" he asked the robot.

"_Chaos Emerald approaching._" The machine replied with its usual tone.

"What was that?" Eggman repeated.

"EGGMAN!" The Doctor almost fell out of his flying machine, when he heard that cursed voice of…

"Knuckles!" Eggman yelled at his enemy. Knuckles stooped just a few meters away from the robot and observed the damage that was done. A few houses were already destroyed, but no big damage was done.

"What do you think you're doing here?" Knuckled shouted furiously.

"Let me see," The genius spoke "I was merely asking for the Chaos Emerald, but this rude people refused to give it to me, so I used a little force on them."

Growling, Knuckles gritted his teeth, "I'll show you force and it won't be little!" He punched the ground, creating a small earthquake. The robot stumbled backwards and fell on his back.

"Why you!" Eggman spat "E-88 get up this instance and destroy that echidna!" The robot still, on his back, swung his big metal hand at Knuckles, who managed to dodge the blow but still fell down on his side. Knuckled quickly got up and charged at the robot. The robot was ready however, it swung his arms again and hit Knuckles directly, sending him flying thru three houses. The force of the blow, made Knuckles loose the Chaos Emerald, which Eggman noticed immediately.

"So, that annoying echidna had it with him." Eggman stated. He then grinned and flew down to collect his prize. "Thank you for the Emerald."

"Let's get going E-88." Eggman commanded and flew away, with the robot behind him.

Sierra and Elora were helping some people, who got hurt during Eggman's attack, when they saw him leaving Dragon Valley.

"He's leaving." Sierra stated as she stood up. Elora looked towards the area, where he was just a minute ago, hoping that any minute now Knuckles will arrive, but there was no sign of him.

"Where is Knuckles?" Elora spoke softly to herself, only Sierra was able to hear her. She sighed and came to her friend's side.

"Let's go look for him." Sierra went ahead, with Elora right behind her.

Knuckled growled as he pushed another piece, of the demolished house, of himself. "Damn it." He mustered up all his strength and was able to get out of the house. He leaned against the wall for support and waited for a few minutes to catch his breath. "_How could I let Eggman take the Chaos Emerald!_" He questioned in his head.

"I'm such I fool." He said quietly to himself.

"Knuckles? Knuckles, where are you?" he heard two voices calling for him. That must be the girls.

"I'm over here." He shouted back to them. In less than a minute, Sierra and Elora came running at his side.

"Oh, God are you alright, Knuckles?" Elora asked as she kneeled by his side worriedly.

"I lost it." was his simple reply.

"What did you loose?" Sierra asked.

"The Emerald." He muttered back. Sierra was still pretty peeved at the fact this was turning out to be a really bad day.

"Wonderful." She murmured. Elora supported Knuckles as they began to walk.

"Let's go, Knuckles is hurt. The people of this town should help us." Elora said. Sierra stayed for a minute, before fallowing them.

Back with Eggman, he was extremely happy that he won against Knuckles and achieved the Chaos Emerald. The Doctor pressed one of the buttons on the panel that showed a holographic picture of one of his robots.

"_Did you get it, Doctor?_" Decoe asked. Eggman grinned evilly.

"Of course I did." Eggman laughed. "Just six more Emeralds to go and this time Sonic, it will be me who wins this game!"

Down at the White House in Washington D.C. two G.U.N agents were waiting for the President to arrive in his office. In between them, sitting on a chair, was an anthropomorphic white bat, who happen to be getting on the females agent's last nerve.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to serve me coffee?" the bat stated to the female agent.

"Hey missy, are you aware of the situation you're in?" the woman argued, putting her hands on her hips.

"I'm a kidnapped pretty girl," the bat stated mockingly "And you're just a kidnapping old woman."

"Old?" the woman glared at the bat "Who do you think you're talking to!"

"Topaz, just give her a cup of coffee." The male agent commanded. The woman looked at her Captain in disbelieve, but obeyed neither the less.

"Aye, aye, Sir." She turned away from the two and went to the coffeemaker.

"Why do I get stuck with this job?" the woman complained, while pouring the coffee into the cup.

"So, her name is Topaz?" the bat said aloud "Isn't that the name of a gem?" Juts then the doors opened and three men came inside. Upon seeing them, Topaz dropped the cup, which she was holding, spilling the coffee on the floor. One of the men sat down at the desk, while the other two stood behind him.

"Had some problems?"

"Ah, I'm very sorry, Mr. President." Topaz apologised, while cleaning the spilt coffee.

"So, you're Rouge?" one of the men behind the President asked.

"Hello!" Rouge gave them a small wave.

"We'll get to the point," the other man stated "We want to make you a deal."

"A deal?" Rouge asked suspiciously.

"We want to make you a member of our staff." The President commented.

"A member of your staff?" Rouge was surprised by the offer "You want to make me your secretary?" she asked jokingly.

"A secret agent working under the direct orders of the President." The Presidents right-hand man answered.

"Oh, so you want me to be your government servant." Rouge said in a fake happy tone. "And why is that?"

"We have our reasons." The President stated "So, what's your answer?"

"_While working for them, I will be able to find where my friends are and not to mention learn more about this world._" Rouge thought.

"Alright, I agree."

"That's nice to hear, welcome to our team Agent Rouge." The President stood up and raising a hand to shake the bat's in a proper greeting.

Rouge smirked and took his hand "Thank you, Sir." "_Now the fun really begins._"

**To be continued…**

* * *

**The songs I used in this chapter: **

The Diary by Hollywood Undead (I changed the lyrics a little bit.)

Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson

It's official =) I love this story XD

Sonic Team Rules!


	12. Mystery Rose for a Mystery Doll

**Authors Note**: Yay! I finally finished this chapter. Took me a long time to finish it but it's finally here.

I'm very grateful for your sweet words about this story. Thank you so much! (kisses)You inspire me to work harder, just so you all know.

I also noticed, my dear readers, that you really understand this story, well a large part of it anyway. You only don't know the thing I know (hahaha) but you will. Don't worry. ;]

The mystery behind Sierra's unusual visions, you will find out later the story (so far she only saw two of them) the dreams which she had and will have, shows you a fragment of her past. They have nothing in common with the visions.

So THANK YOU ALL AGAIN and review!

Love, Amethyst

* * *

**7:10 am **

The bright ray of the morning sun glimmered all throughout the patio of the Edward's house, gracing its rose-hedge, and everything else within its grasp, sufficient warmth and nourishment. From the centre of the magnificent courtyard lay a tea table where Sierra was having her morning tea at this very moment.

She reached for a cup along the table and crossed her legs as she relaxed back in her seat. She held the cup to her lips and savored the rich aroma of her tea. She placed her soft lips on the brim and took a sip. She returned the cup to where it stood along the table and resumed her position back in her chair.

A few books lay on the table before her along with her music textbook. She sighed. She looked from her huge garden to the bright, beautiful sky. She loved her garden; in her free time she usually spent most of her time in it. Bight coloured birds always sat beside her, or fluttered towards the flowers, sometimes she even talked to them. That way she didn't feel so alone.

Sierra reached for her cup once more. She switched her crossed legs as she held her cup closer and took a sip from the brim. She was looking forward for her concert this evening. It was awhile since her last one and she found herself missing the colourful lights and the feeling of satisfaction when the crowd goes wild at hearing your voice, while you stand there on the stage dressed in gorgeous clothing.

Sierra gazed to the rose patch, her favourite spot, it was because roses were always her favourite flowers, but they were dieing lately, she wondered how long they would last much more. The birds chirped happily around her and she couldn't help but sing along:

**Mirror Mirror on the wall  
Catch me now before I fall  
I wish I may, I wish I might  
Find the Answer here tonight  
Mirror Mirror on the wall  
Catch me now before I fall  
I wish I may, I wish I might  
Find the Answer here tonight**

**When the whole world's turnin left  
It's when I'm going right  
I need someone to let me be  
Just who I am inside**

**`Cause a girl like me  
Is just a lil' different from all the rest  
And a girl likes me  
Never gonna settle for Second Best  
Could it be a boy like you  
That would give me anything  
If I asked him to  
To take all my dreams  
And Make them true  
Show me all the reasons that you  
Ought to be with a girl like me  
Just like me****…**

Sierra fell into a daydream state. She was so deep in her thoughts that she failed to hear soft footsteps approaching her.

"That was a beautiful song."

Sierra quickly snapped back to reality and turned her head to the speaker. She was surprised to see Sonic standing there, just a few feet away from her table. She somehow didn't catch what he said to her just now, so to show that she heard him she simply nodded her head.

"Why up this early?"

"Felt like it." was her dry reply. She was really curious as to why **he** was up this early and why did **he** came here. Did he come here on purpose, knowing that she was here alone, or was he simply passing by the garden?

"Where were you all day yesterday?" That was just a curious question, but to her it somehow sounded like a demand. The tone in his voice surprised the girl. Why would he care where she was all day? But she had to admit; that it was probably the first time, when somebody actually had bothered to ask her where she was.

"Out with a friend." Upon replying, she turned her head away from him.

Seeing him right now, had brought memories from yesterday, when Knuckles told her the legend about the Emeralds and about their connection to the all mighty Chaos itself. Till yesterday she had problems in trusting them simply because they were different from humans, different from her kind, but now, after yesterday, they become more than just a different race. They didn't just look different from humans; they, apparently, had powers within them, which could be used for good and probably for evil as well.

Super sonic speed…..inhuman like strength….high intelligent…control over chaos…

How she missed it all in the first place she didn't know. But now, when she knew, what she thought, a large part of their story she didn't know how to deal with it all. A part of her wished to know more about them, but the other part, dreaded ever finding out this much. What should she do now? Find out more, or throw out this ridiculous idea before it's not too late.

"I was worried you know." She jerked her head upwards. She was so lost in her thoughts, that she completely forgot that he was still there. That was the second time, when he surprised her with his words. First he asked her where she was and now he…he….

"Why?" she asked after a long pause. He too, it seems, took his time in answering her. It was probably because he didn't expect her to question his motives, but she did, and now he was forced to answer her truthfully or lie.

"With Eggman on the loose, it's not safe for you wonder around like that." He answered truthfully. If only he knew where she was and what she did yesterday. What would he say then?

"I can handle myself just fine." She stated. So far, Eggman didn't look like a threat to her. More like an annoying old man.

"And I have no doubt in that, but still, I suggest you be careful." She had to admit, that he was right. She shouldn't underestimate Eggman. Who knows what he is capable of?

"I will."

Her answer seemed to please him, because his face soften and he was now feeling more relaxed, than he did when he first entered the patio. He had to admit, that she was strong. Emotionally strong. So much stress was put on her because of their arrival and to this day, he still didn't saw any weaknesses in her. She had done so much for them already and it seems that she doesn't even know it or chooses not to know it.

She saved him from drowning, gave him and his friends a roof over their heads, gave them food, found a Chaos Emerald, confronted Eggman in hopes of saving one of his friends and even helped him and his friends to rebuild their precious plane.

She had a fire in her, a fire which he liked and admired, but sadly, that fire was against him and he wasn't sure anymore on what to do, without putting out that fire, because something told him that without her 'dangerous flames' she will break apart.

Like a doll…

It was silent between them for five minutes, until Sierra got a text message on her cell phone. She took out the phone from her skirt pocked and read the message:

_Morning sunshine. Be in the studio at 8:30. Meet you there. ~ Jack _

A small smile appeared on her lips. A singer's life is never easy. Time for work.

"Got planes for today as well."

She looked at him from the corner of her eye, then returned her gaze to the phone. With a sigh she stood up, putting away her phone back into her skirt pocked, and gathered her books from the table.

"Yes." She answered simply. After she gathered all her books she walked past him towards the house, but his smooth voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Will I be asking too much, for you to spend some time with us?" She didn't turn to him and he as well, stood facing his back to her. She wanted to give him a different answer, but instead she said the complete opposed.

"Maybe."

With that said she left the patio. The silence once again fell thru the patio but, this time, the happy morning birds decided to ruin it with their beautiful songs.

**14:50 pm. **

Sonic and Amy were sitting on the couch, in the living room, watching a children's cartoon with Cream and Cheese. The two young kids were dancing along with the purple creature on the screen. Sonic smiled watching them. You could easily mistake them for, or Cream to be more exact, for simple children, playing, laughing without a care in the world, but looks could be deceiving, and they were, because Cream had proved to be one heck of a fighter in their past fights against Eggman. Come to think about it, all of the team's members proved to be excellent fighters. They usually were goofing around in their free time but when in critical situations, they showed that brave and fearless side of them, which normal people wouldn't have noticed at first. Sonic still had a tough time believing that **he**, of all people, was blessed with friends like them and, not to mention, probably leading the most powerful team in history of Mobius.

After the show ended, Ella came into the room holding a tray with four drinks on it.

"Yay!"

"Chao!" Cream and Cheese walked over and grabbed some of the drinks. The glasses were full of lemonade. Amy grabbed the remote and started flipping thru the channels, searching for some kind of interesting show to watch. In a few minutes, Laura came into the room with two guests fallowing behind her.

"Knuckles! Miss Elora!" Cream yelp happily when she saw them enter the room. Cheese flew to Knuckles and have him one of his happy hugs.

"Hey, kid" he petted the little rabbit girl on the head.

"Well, well looks like the war veteran decided to visit us." Amy said playfully. When she noticed a few bandages on him she gasped softly, "What happened to you, got into another fight?"

"I'll bring you some snacks." Ella said and left the room, dragging Laura with her. Knuckles sat down on the couch next to Sonic, while Elora sat down on the chair.

"Guess Eggmans robot beat me up pretty good," Knuckles commented "and to think that I lost the Chaos Emerald to him."

"What…..are you talking about?" Sonic asked, hoping maybe he misunderstood something.

"Yesterday, in Dragon Valley, Eggman attacked the village and took the Chaos Emerald, didn't Sierra tell you?" Upon seeing their confused faces, Knuckles guessed that this news was new to them.

"And how does it involve Sierra?" Sonic asked carefully.

"Me and Elora found her in Dragon Valley yesterday, in a Chao garden, she gave me a Chaos Emerald, saying a Chao gave it to her, when she helped one of them." Knuckles explained.

"There is a Chao garden in this world?" Amy asked. Knuckles nodded, "Yes, me and Elora found it a few days ago." Knuckles turned to Sonic, who appeared to be deep in thoughts. His face was calm, but Knuckles could tell that something was bothering the hedgehog.

"I'm guessing Sierra didn't tell you that?" Knuckles asked.

"She doesn't tell me anything." Sonic replied simply. Elora put her face in her palm and shook her head in disbelieve, "_I can't believe she didn't tell them any of this, what is that girl thinking?_"

"I see you're not on speaking terms with her." Knuckles chuckled in amusement.

"You don't know the half of it." Sonic said. They were interrupted by Amy's fangirl scream.

"Ah! They will be showing Selen's new music video!"

They all turned their attention to the screen just as the music video began. On the left side of the screen appeared the name of the song: 'Big Girls Now.'

A young teenager began the song. He was standing in a white room, wearing a white suit with a black tie and a black hat on his head:

**I'm a big boy, you're a big girl now, now, ow.**

The scene changed to the girl, standing in a black room, wearing a black suit with an aqua coloured tie and hat:

_I'm a big girl, you're a big boy now, now, ow__._

**Back in the day, when you were young**** (**_It was fun_**) **

**Little girl, didn't think you were the one ****(**_Now, here I come_**)**

**Your sexy walk, your sexy talk** (_That's what's up_)

**Little girl, you're clearly not the same kid from the block****.**

_I __ain't that little girl no more, not no more, that's for sure  
Boy, get ass out on the floor, lets explore, lets explore._

**You know I like the way you move it** (**move it**)  
**Girl, you're all grown up and now you're ready to let it go  
Wanna be a big girl 'bout to prove it (prove it)  
With a body like that, you got a grown man ready to blow  
**

**I'm big boy, you're a big girl now****, now, ow.  
**_I'm a big girl, you're a big boy now, now, ow._

The scene changed. The girl now wearing a short pink blouse with long sleeves and blue jeans, walked into a dance club:

_Back in the day, when I was young (Kinda dumb)  
But I always knew I'd be the one (__**Now, here you come**__)  
Gonna get you wet, gonna make you sweat  
Gonna give you something you ain't never gonna forget._

The teenager was sitting on a chair, wearing a white shirt and dark blue jeans, which matched perfectly with his messy blonde hair and crystal blue eyes:

**Well, you ain't a little girl, not no more, that's for sure  
Wanna work it like a big girl, lets explore  
Drop it to the floor, baby, get more.**

**You know I like the way you move it (move it)  
Girl, you're all grown up and now you're ready to let it go  
Wanna be a big girl 'bout to prove it (prove it)**  
**With a body like that, you got a grown man ready to blow**.

**I'm big boy, you're a big girl now, now, ow.**  
_I'm a big girl, you're a big boy now, now, ow._

**I'm big boy, you're a big girl now****, now, ow.**  
_I'm a big girl, you're a big boy now, now, ow._

_I've been waiting too long for you to get naughty  
Eat this and daddy, come on touch my body._

**I see that good things come to those who wait  
Come take me on before it's too late****.**

**Oh Yeah****,**_ Oh, Baby, _**Oh Yeah, **_Oh Yeah, _**You know I like the way, yeah….**

Now the two of them appeared on the stage, wearing their black and white suits:

**You know I like the way you move it (move it)  
Girl, you're all grown up and now you're ready to let it go  
Wanna be a big girl 'bout to prove it (prove it)  
With a body like that, you got a grown man ready to blow****.**

**You know I like the way you move it (move it)**  
**Girl, you're all grown up and now you're ready to let it go**  
**Wanna be a big girl 'bout to prove it (prove it)**  
**With a body like that, you got a grown man ready to blow.**

**Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey Yeah  
Woo, Woo, Woo, Woo, Woo****….**

_A grown man ready to blow._

**Woo, Woo, Woo, Woo, Woo****….**

After the song ended, Amy screamed in delight, "That was fantastic!" Elora chuckled at the girl's behaviour.

"I see you like Selen?" Amy turned to her the joy was simply pouring from her.

"Are you kidding, I'm her #1 fan!"

"Well, then you will be happy to know, that today at 8 o'clock will be her concert." Amy's face brightened upon hearing the great news.

"Really? Yay!"

"Tell me, Elora," Sonic suddenly asked, turning to the girl "does Sierra have any hobbies?" Elora blinked at the sudden question. Well she knew that singing was Sierra's main hobby but she can't tell him that. She didn't know what Sierra told them, so she will have to be careful with her words.

"Well, she can play the piano and likes to draw, but I won't really call them her hobbies." Well that part was true. Sierra did know how to play the piano, thanks to her, and did love to draw in her free time.

"Why don't you ask her that?" Elora suggested. Sonic chuckled at her offer.

"I would if she would let me get near her."

"She doesn't?" Elora asked in shock. Sonic shook his head, smirking slightly.

"Why?"

"I have no idea." A moment of silence fallowed, before Ella came into the room.

"Sorry for interrupting," she apologised "Amy, can you and Cream please help me in the kitchen?"

"Of course" the girls stood up and fallowed Ella into the kitchen.

"Elora," Elora gave Sonic her full attention and the hedgehog continued "Can you tell me about Sierra's past?" his face showed no emotions, but his voice did. Elora couldn't really understand his emotions. Was that worry in his voice or simple curiosity?

"What do you want to know?" she automatically asked. Sonic wasn't looking at her, he was looking somewhere in front of him.

"What do **you** know about her past?" Elora couldn't tear her eyes from him. He was just curious, she knew that, but from his voice she felt as if he was demanding to finally know the truth about her friend.

"Well,…." She didn't even know where to begin; she can't tell them too much, she will leave that to Sierra to tell, if the girl feels like it, "you probably already know about her parents?" She studied his face closely. Nothing changed but she could have sworn that his eyes narrowed a bit.

"Yes" he answered.

"Well, there isn't much to tell. Her family was always away, so she was always left alone." Elora explained.

"…..is that all?" She blinked at his question. It was like he knew that there was still something untold in this story. Elora was a bad actress, so it was hard for her to hide her emotions, but she will try as best as she can.

"That's what I know. Being a child of a famous and wealthy family is very hard to convince the others that you are just a simple everyday child." Elora looked down at her lap, but somehow she felt their eyes on her now.

"I don't know how much different we are from your kind, but with humans, you usually have to think the same, act the same and do the same thing that the other's do, if you don't then that means you're an outcast."

"So Sierra is an outcast?" finally Knuckles spoke. Elora nodded.

"At first she tried to be like other kids her age, but with time she got sick of it, and stated that she doesn't care what others think of her anymore, she will do as she pleases. She even told me once, that she feels like a stranger in her own world, among her own people, because no one really understands her." Elora explained. Everyone was silent after Elora finished telling them about her friend. Elora still couldent understand why Sierra refused to trust them, maybe something happened between them?

"Thank you so much, Elora." Elora titled her head and was given one of Sonic's charming smiles "You were a big help."

She didn't really think that she was a big help to him, but this is better than nothing. She returned him the warm smile before replying.

"You're welcome."

**19:40 pm****.**

Sierra was sitting in front of a mirror in her dressing room, putting on the last part of her costume for tonight's performance.

"Tonight will be a day to remember, I just know it." She whispered quietly to herself. She sighed happily and looked in the mirror. She was wearing a beautiful knee length baby blue coloured doll dress with lots of ribbons, laces and even miniature teddy bears were on the front of her dress and each on her sleeves. On her hands were fingerless white gloves with all sorts of colourful rings and bracelets. On her feet she wore high heels tied up with golden ribbons and on the right side of her head was a hat with a puffy peach coloured feather. Beautiful blue and silver shadows were put on her eyes with small diamond like tears under her heft and right eye.

"Perfect, simply perfect." She said to her reflection in the mirror. She checked the time it was 19:50. With one last look it the mirror she left the dressing room. When she reached the stage the last actors, who will be performing on the stage with her, were already in their places.

Sierra was impressed on how beautiful the stage was made for her performance. All around the stage stood trees with ribbons and little light put on them, resembling a mystic forest. Two swings were hanging on the right and left side of the stage with two women sitting on them dresses as dolls. A large red throne was on a small pedestal. That will be her place for the firs song, and small stairs leading to a large table in the middle of the stage, where seven people were sitting dressed as dolls and knights. She will come down the stairs and will be singing besides the table, while the dolls and knight will be having a tea party. Her tea party.

"Selen, you're up." A woman told her after she checked her microphone. Sierra nodded and went towards the red throne. She sat down and waited for the concert to begin. In a few minutes she saw the happy and delightful faces of her fan's and smiled playfully as the music began. It's show time:

**Welcome to the Tea Party  
Want to be my V****.I.P?  
Didn't R.S.V.P.  
That's ok, that's ok  
Welcome to the Tea Party (oh oh, oh oh)  
Want to be my V.I.P?  
When I all steamed up, hear me shout  
Tip me over and pour me out**

She came down the pedestal and was now standing next to the tea table:

**Your appetite is fresh  
I got the table set  
Don't get your dribble on my  
T-t-table yet**

**I got the goodies baked  
Got more than you can take  
Just try and nibble on my biscuits and my rainbow cake**

**Let's be traditional  
And non commissional  
Elbows down, pinkies up  
That's the way you sip my cup**

**Welcome to the Tea Party (oh oh, oh oh)  
Want to be my V.I.P? (oh oh, oh oh)  
Didn't R.S.V.P (oh oh, oh oh)  
That's ok, that's ok (oh oh, oh oh)  
Welcome to the Tea Party (oh oh, oh oh)  
Want to be my V.I.P?  
When I all steamed up, hear me shout  
Tip me over and pour me out**

She walked around the table with a teapot and pretended to pour them tea:

**Try not to move so fast  
You know the sircomes comes last  
I'm a lady fatha mucka try to show some class**

**Come to the last cup  
We keep it boiling hot  
We keep the party moving till we drink the last drop**

**Let's be traditional**  
**And non commissional**  
**Elbows down, pinkies up**  
**That's the way you sip my cup**

**Welcome to the Tea Party (oh oh, oh oh)  
Want to be my V****.I.P? (oh oh, oh oh)  
Didn't R.S.V.P (oh oh, oh oh)  
That's ok, that's ok (oh oh, oh oh)  
Welcome to the Tea Party (oh oh, oh oh)  
Want to be my V.I.P?  
When I all steamed up, hear me shout  
Tip me over and pour me out**

She left the table for a moment and went to the swings and started to circle the doll dresses women with a sinister smile on her lips:

**I know this night is like no other  
You're not just another**

**I know it's only getting better**  
**As long as we're together**

**I know this night is like no other  
You're not just another**

Then the lights went out and when they came back the guests were all lying on the floor:

**Welcome to the Tea Party (oh oh, oh oh)  
Want to be my V****.I.P? (oh oh, oh oh)  
Didn't R.S.V.P (oh oh, oh oh)  
That's ok, that's ok (oh oh, oh oh)  
Welcome to the Tea Party (oh oh, oh oh)  
Want to be my V.I.P?  
When I all steamed up, hear me shout  
Tip me over and pour me out.**

Selen walked to the table and blew out the candles on the table. The lights on the stage went out again.

**Edward****'s mansion **

Once again all of the Sonic Team, together with the humans, was sitting in the living room watching Selen's concert.

"Oh! She looks so beautiful!" Amy shouted after the first song ended.

"I want to join her tea party." Cream said, while bouncing up and down before the TV. Knuckles chuckled, from his place on the couch.

"Not me, she poisoned her guests." Next to Knuckles, Sonic chuckled as well.

The stage changed again. This time it was a beautiful secret garden with snow white trees. On stage appeared seven 'dolls' dressed in black and white ballet dresses. In the middle stood Selen, dresses in the same dress as before, only this time, two black ribbons were tied to her wrists and it looked as if the ribbons were controlling her like a poppet:

**La la la la la la la**

**La la la la la la la…**

**Theres a little creepy house  
In a little creepy place  
Little creepy town  
In a little creepy world****.**

**Little creepy girl**  
**With her little creepy face**  
**Saying funny things that you have never heared**

**Do you know what it's all about**  
**Are you brave enough to figure out**  
**Know that you could set your world on fire**  
**If you are strong enough to leave your doubts**

The dolls it the background were dancing while Selen was only moving her arms:

**Feel it...  
Breath it...  
Belive it...  
And you'll be walking on air  
Go try...  
Go fly...  
So high..  
And you'll be walking on air  
Feel this...  
Unless you kill thiss...  
Go on...  
And your forgiven...  
I knew that...  
I could feel that...  
I feel like...  
I am walking on air...**

Then the 'snow' began to fall all around them:

**She has a little creepy cat  
And a little creepy bat  
Little rocking chair  
And an old blue hat****…she loves to sing  
She has a little gift  
An amazing thing**

**That little creepy girl**  
**oh**

**With her little funny eyes of hazel**  
**With her little funny old blue hat**  
**She will go and set the world on fire**  
**No one ever thought she could do that**

**Feel it...  
Breath it...  
Belive it...  
And you'll be walking on air  
Go try...  
Go fly...  
So high..  
And you'll be walking on air  
Feel this...  
Unless you kill this...  
Go on...  
And your forgiven...  
I knew that...  
I could feel that...  
I feel like...  
I am walking on air...**

**Flitter up...  
And hover down...  
Be all around****. Be all around….**

And then the ribbons on her wrists were cut loose:

**You know that I love you  
Go on...**

**Feel it...  
Breath it...  
Belive it...  
And you'll be walking on air  
Go try...  
Go fly...  
So high..  
And you'll be walking on air  
Feel this...  
Unless you kill this...  
Go on...  
And your forgiven...  
I knew that...  
I could feel that...  
I feel like...  
I am walking on air...****I am walking on air...**

"Tempting." Knuckles commented.

"Very." Sonic added.

"I so love her dress." Laura said.

"No wonder she's more popular than Jenifer, the girl is fantastic!" Stated Greg. Elora smiled to herself. If only Sierra could hear all the compliments which were said to her tonight, she would have been more than pleased.

…**.. **

Song after song played, and finally, Selen emerged from back stage in her final dress. She was wearing a white, with tips of blue, ornately ruffled dress with long white boots. On her head were two blue roses tied to her hair and she wore a blue rose-layered eyepatch on her right eye.

The stage was made into a ball room, with beautiful golden walls and large mirrors. All of the dancers were wearing masks and carnival costumes. Just as the music began to play the dancers began to dance:

**Shut your mouth and just look at me**

**Don't look back tell me what you see**

**You bring my body down**

**I gave you my heart **

**You're tearing me apart **

**How could you walk away with nothing to say.**

**You lied to me **

**To caught in sensitivity**

**Oh, when you hold me tight **

**Something a'int just right**

**A'int ganna win this fight tonight.**

Selen was sitting on an old fashion couch when a masked man came to her and gave her a bouquet of beautiful white roses:

**Your voices in the dark**

**Tight ropes around my heart**

**I can't escape you're in control**

**Reflections of a broken doll.**

**Stop**

**These strings on me…**

**Stop**

**C-c-cut me free…**

**Stop**

**Let me be…**

**Stop**

**Don't you play me like a doll**

**Like a doll…**

**Like a doll…**

**Like a….**

**I'm not your toy at all!**

**Don't you be surprised**

**You're not the only one who can decide**

**Oh, oh it's all about your vanity**

**Your sick pathetidy**

**Ripped upon by this disunity.**

**Your voices in the dark**

**Tight ropes around my heart**

**I can't escape you're in control**

**Reflections of a broken doll.**

**Stop**

**These strings on me…**

**Stop**

**C-c-cut me free…**

**Stop**

**Let me be…**

**Stop**

**Don't you play me like a doll**

**Like a doll…**

**Like a doll…**

**Like a….**

**Let me go cuz' I don't wanna do**

**Hurt any more what I gave to you**

**Not gonna change us to who you are**

**How that even got so far**

**Stop**

**These strings on me…**

**Stop**

**C-c-cut me free…**

**Stop**

**Let me be…**

**Stop**

**Don't you play me like a doll**

**Like a doll…**

**Like a doll…**

**Like a….**

**I'm not your toy at all!**

**Stop**

**These strings on me…**

**Stop**

**C-c-cut me free…**

**Stop**

**Let me be…**

**Stop**

**Don't you play me like a doll**

**Like a doll…**

**Like a doll…**

**Like a….**

**I'm not your toy at all!**

With that she tossed the roses angrily to the side and the fake mirrors, in the background, shattered. The crowd went wild. The audience stood up and cheered for Selen.

Sierra smiled in delight as she gazed at the wild crowd "_Mmm, now I feel ten times better._"

…

Sierra spend two hours on giving away her autographs, speaking with journalists and taking pictures for the new teenage magazine. She didn't remember when was the last time she was this exhausted. With hands full of flowers, she made her way to her dressing room. When she entered the dressing room she was hit with a sweet aroma of thousands of flowers. She smiled as she found a free vase to put the flowers, which she was carrying around with her for the last hour.

Looking around the room, full of all sorts of exotic flowers, something strange had caught her eye in this sea of colourful flowers. She walked to her mirror and gasped softly when she found there a single blue rose covered in golden dust. Sierra reached out for the flower and smiled as she examined it more closely. She felt her heart flutter as she caressed it. There was probably hundred of roses in her room but this one looked special and unique. It wasn't like all the others and she liked it.

Turning her gaze back to the mirror, she noticed a small card lying on the table where the rose was. She picked it up, hoping that, maybe, there will be a name telling her who gave her this simple yet beautiful gift.

Her eyes widened slightly after she read the card. This was not what she was excepting to see. She slowly put the card back on the small table next to the mirror and closed her eyes for a moment.

For ten minutes she just sat there with her eyes closed, deep in thoughts. She slowly stood up, the blue rose still in her hand, and went to get changed into her normal cloths. After changing and washing off her heavy make-up she was ready to leave. She grabbed her bag and went towards the door. She suddenly stopped and once again looked at the rose, which she was holding tight in her hand. She smiled and left the dressing room.

The card was still lying by the mirror. It will probably be thrown out tonight by the cleaner, but Sierra wont be able to throw out those words from her mind for the rest of the night.

_~Blue roses exist in fantasy but not in nature. They __signify a mystery_ _or never ending quest for the impossible. Just like you…_

* * *

The songs I used:

**A girl like me **by Rihanna

**Big girl now **by New kids on the block (feat lady gaga)

**Tea Party **by Kerli (The baby blue dress from this music video, was Sierra's first dress)

**Walking on air **by Kerli

**Broken Doll **by Brandi Russell

**P.S** I suggest you listen to these songs, they are awesome believe me!

Till next time, love you all! ;]


	13. Fallen Ice Angel

**A/N**: I'm back! Sorry for the long wait and for the small chapter, but you see, in about a week I'm moving away from my parents and my country and moving to London (UK) with my childhood friend and two of her friends, so I will be gone for a few weeks, but I will be back!

Thank you all for your sweet words on this story. You guys make my day! THANK YOU!

This chapter isn't much, but still sweet. Oh, and the song in this chapter is my own invention (hahaha) Hope you like it.

With love, Amethyst

* * *

The rain came down in torrents outside, the wind whipping the palm trees and kicking up swirls of grainy sand. It was already way past midnight and the whole mansion was long since asleep in their cosy warm beds. All except one, a certain brunette, who was to busy writing songs, in her room, to notice the time. She was sitting near her bed, on her pink fluffy carpet, already dressed in her pink night dress; a mug with tea was on her right while a plate of biscuits, on the left.

Lightning streaked across the sky and the girl turned her head lazily towards the window. She loved nights like this. The pouring rain always gave her a comforting felling and the loud thunder just made it all better. She couldn't understand why Elora was so afraid of lightning storms. It's not like they will hurt you inside your house. She would usually yelp and clutch to the nearest thing to her, and sometimes that was Sierra, and won't let go until the storm passes and that could take hours.

Sierra reached for her mug, which surprisingly was half empty. Letting out an annoyed sigh she stood up from the floor, slipped on her slippers and left her room to make another cup of tea. She didn't bother to put on her robe, everyone was asleep, it's not like someone will see her or anything.

The white-blue electricity shot across the sky again, a brighter and longer-lasting one than its predecessor. The eight year old little fox woke with a start, gasping for air his blue eyes stung with tears. He clenched his white chest fur were his heart was located.

"_Stupid storms… They always ruin everything and make me look like a crybaby" _Tails thought, caught between anger and sadness. Slowly he allowed himself to lay back down, he looked at the ceiling his chest still rising and falling heavily. He didn't wantto feel this weak; he wantedto be strong like Sonic always was. But it seems it's impossible. His fear of storms was to strong.

Lightning streaked across the sky, and he yelped loudly, though the sound was drowned out as thunder made itself known almost immediately after the ethereal light had passed. The poor little fox shivered violently under his bedcovers, eyes closed tightly, fingers plugging his ears, and twin tails hidden between his legs. He whimpered pitifully, tears threatening to fall. His sobs were loud and unrelenting as his shivering increased a thousand-fold and the fingers in his ears forced themselves so far inside it hurt.

"_Why, oh, why did I have to be cursed with astraphobia?" _He shook his head violently.

A boom of thunder came now and Tails flew from the bed and landed on the floor. Too petrified to even attempt to get up, the baby fox laid there on the floor, shivering and crying anew as he burrowed as far as he could into his blanket. Unfortunately for him, Tails had a great knowledge of storms, and he knew just from the nature of this thunder and lightning that a storm such as this would not be over for a long while yet. He didn't want to be alone, not during a storm like this.

Cracking open his eyes with a mighty effort, he saw that the door was open. Planting one gloved hand on the floor, Tails shakily pushed himself up into a sitting position and rested on his knees for a few moments. The fox strove to stand, but found his knees were shaking too badly to support even his small weight. So instead, he forced his stubborn, quivering tails to do the work for him.

Downstairs, in the kitchen, while waiting for the water to boil, Sierra sat down by the small table, next to the window, and yet again turned her attention to the outside world. It was so dark outside, that she couldn't even see her own backyard. With a sigh she turned away from the window and scanned the kitchen absentmindedly. In two weeks her summer vacation will start. That means she will have more free time on her hands and could arrange more concerts. During summer vacation it's easier to make a good excuse to leave the house for a few days, or weeks even.

Sierra closed her eyes and remembered all the things which happened for the last two weeks. After her big concert, things changed somehow. Greg actually asked for her help, which was a first, Amy and Cream usually spend their time with Ella and Laura, learning new recipes, but for the last two weeks they were eager to teach her what they learned in the kitchen, Tails took her flying on the X-Tornado, said something about her showing him all the beautiful places which she knows and Sonic, surprisingly, haven't said a word to her in two weeks. She barely saw him at all. He was either sleeping or gone. Its not like it bothered her or anything, it was just strange to her. A month ago he was all around her, telling what to do and what not and now he's avoiding her like some kind of deadly illness. Well, maybe that what happens when a tornado meets a volcano. She knew from the start, that nothing good will come out between them.

**Fussin' and fightin', we're back at it again**

**I know that it's my fault, but you don't understand **

She stood up and went to prepare her tea. No need to think about this kind of things. They are not worth it.

"_What would it take, for things to be quiet around here, quiet like the rain?_" She asked herself. Her sapphire eyes once again fell on the window and she just stood there like a statue, not moving for a few minutes.

**I sleep no more, this is crazy****,**

**You aint' nothin' like the others I used to know**

"_I know, this isn't much, but I know, I could, I could be better. I don't think I deserve it, forgiveness that is. But what would it take?...for me to be better?_" Her eyes returned to the mug, which she was holding and she continued to make the tea.

"I could be better, but the question is…..do I want to?" She said aloud. After her tea was done she left the kitchen. The storm become stronger, Sierra could even hear the strong wind whistling outside the window. She didn't care though; she enjoyed it while it lasted.

**You're good with them, but I'm not in the scene**

**I should try, truth is, I wanna let you in, but no**

When she reached the stairs a loud boom of thunder was heard outside and a distressed yelp came from the top of the stairs. Sierra jumped by the sudden yelp. Who was that? Turning her head toward the place where she hear someone yelp, she was surprised to see a small figure sitting there pressed against the wall and shivering. At first she thought it was Cream but when she reached the top she was surprised to find Tails there.

She was shocked when she saw the poor thing sitting there all alone crying softly like something terrible just happened. She quietly approached the baby fox, not sure how to comfort the poor thing.

Tears blurred his vision at the thought of thunder. Hanging his head, Tails ignored everything around him. He didn't even heard, that someone was approaching him. After a moment Tails felt a hand on his head and an alarm went off in his head. Lowering his ears and moving his head away from the hand, Tails looked up at the girl not even trying to hide his fear.

"S-sierra" he said in a small voice. Sierra couldn't understand what happened to the little guy.

Another sound of thunder was heard outside and Tails jumped slightly, covering his ears. With her hand hovering several inches away from Tails head, Sierra looked surprised, but smiled as she realized what was going on.

"Why are you afraid of thunder?" she asked softly, sitting down besides the scared little fox.

"….Why aren't you afraid of it?" he questioned, his fur standing on end and shivering.

"Why should I," Sierra said, looking toward the window "It's not like it's going to hurt me inside the house."

Tails stayed quiet, and only a light sob was heard from him. Sierra couldn't understand his fear. Sure, Elora was afraid of them too, but she never cried or showed this king of fear before. It was like the fox knew that the lightning will hit him any minute now, and was terrified at the thought.

**Damn me, this is crazy**

**You aint' nothin' like the ****others I used to know**

When the lightning flashed, a yelp jumped from the kit's throat as he zoomed to Sierra's side, eyes scrunched closed as he

covered his head with his hands. Sierra laid a tender hand on the young boy's back.

"Tails, what scares you so?"

The only answer she got was a choked sob. Bringing the boy closer, Sierra soothingly stroked the boy's back as the eight-year-old wrapped his arms around the girl's stomach and held on as if she was his lifeline.

**Race across a ribbon,**

**Of candy caned roads.**

**Living in a story, which I will never ****know**

For a long time, they just sat there, Sierra trying to console the poor fox as Tails cried into her chest. As much as she loved thunder and lightning, Sierra could only pray for the storm to end soon…

"H-how can you be s-so strong?" the little fox whispered suddenly. Sierra blinked at the sudden question. Is she?

"What makes you say that?" she asked. Maybe if they talk it will help Tails forget his fears. If only for a short time. Something changed, because his constant shivering finally stopped but he was still so tense.

"I never saw you cry….you always act so confident and….and you didn't show any fear when you came face to face with Eggman." The fox stated.

Sierra had to think about what he just said. The first one was true. She herself doesn't remember when the last time she actually cried. About being confident, maybe, maybe not. And about Eggman….she was too scared to actually thing about fear. When it all was over and she saved Amy only then did she felt the real fear, which was gone before. Stupid, yes, but it's true.

**You always asking questions,**

**As if I will give in.**

"Everyone is afraid of something, Tails." She looked down at him and smiled "Even if it's a thunderstorm."

"And what are you afraid of?" the little guy asked. Sierra blinked again. Good question. What was she afraid of? Loneliness? Hell no. Loneliness was part of her. The dark? No, that's not it. Heights? No…

She really couldn't answer him at the moment.

"See, you aint' afraid of anything." Tails pointed out. Sierra frowned. No there must be something. She just doesn't know it yet.

**You acting like you know it all,**

**But you can't even see me fall.**

"Tails?" Sierra suddenly whispered, gently nudging the little guy when she received no response. "Hey, Tails? When do you think this storm will end?" It was something to get his mind off of things, sort of…or at least for a few minutes.

Those minutes seemed to fly by, and soon the kit was answering tearfully, "I-If I'm r-right, the s-s-storm should be o-over in ab-about thr-three h-h-hours…" He broke into a crying fit again as a particularly harsh lightning-and-thunder spell sprang up. "I—I'm s-sorry, Sierra. I'm just so s-scared…!"

**I'm just a fallen angel, **

**Sent from the heaven up above**

**I'm just a little Ice angel**

**I could mend your hearth.**

**I'm just a fallen angel,**

**Take you judgment off me.**

**Know that, I'm just a fallen**** Ice angel…**

"It will be alright, don't be afraid." Sierra could feel the extent of Tails' fear in his ever-trembling body, and the girl didn't know what to do to distract the boy's mind. She wasn't a comforting person at all. She was lost in situations like this. Usually she would just sit quietly and wait it out, but something told her that just sitting there won't help the fox at all.

Maybe she could try to help him…

**You know, I could help you****, kill your fears away,**

**So you could fly again.**

**But I don't wanna lose the pain, which I've gained. **

**Turning me into a selfish girl,**

**Cause without the pain,**

**My heart just don't go no more (no more)**

"I don't understand one thing, Tails…" she had found a way to distract his thoughts from the heavy storm outside.

"W-what?"

"How can you be afraid of something that _is _a part ofyou?"

There was silence for a few seconds before a resounding "Huh?" filled the hall. A small smile appeared on Sierra's lips.

**But I can help you fly again**

**Because I'm an Ice angel…**

"You're afraid of lighting and thunder, even though they belong to the sky just as much as you do." When she saw the confused look the little fox was giving her, she continued, "You are your team's pilot are you not. And you told me yourself, that you use your tails to fly, so technically, you belong in the sky and yet, you're afraid of it."

No one spoke for awhile. Tails was deep in thoughts. Thinking about Sierra's words.

**Baby don't you (don't you worry) worry**

**I'm gonna help you (I'm gonna help you) fly**

**(Help you fly)**

**Just take my hand (take my hand)**

**And we can reach the (we can reach the sky)**

**(We can reach the sky)**

**Baby don't worry (don't you worry)**

**Just spread your crystal wings**

**And fly (don't you worry)**

**To the sky (my angel)**

"If I…if I belong in the sky….where do you belong to?" There was a long pause as Tails waited for Sierra to respond.

"In a doll shop." She whispered.

"What?" he didn't hear her. Sierra closed her eyes and shook her head, murmuring a simple 'nothing.' She didn't know how to answer him. No one ever asked her these things before.

"I don't know Tails," she said, her eyes still closed "I'm kind of stuck between the earth and the sky."

**Baby I know, I know that they hurt you**

**But I'm here, to take it all away**

**So if you let me,**

**You know what to do,**

**Just put your heart in my hands**

**And everything they said,**

**I take it back**

**Like this…**

"That means…..that means you're a fallen angel."

"What? Me an angel?" she asked in a shock filled voice.

"Well, I've read stories and souls who are stuck between the earth and the sky, called fallen angels…..so you must be one of them." She was quiet. She expected to be called a heartless, an Ice Queen, drama princess but never an angel.

She….an angel? Angels are meant to help people, to watch over them and guide them thru the dark and to the light. She can't even help herself, not to mention someone ells. This was….unexpected.

"You know, you remind me of the sun." Sierra suddenly said, changing the subject "So small but bright, with a warm smile on your face."

Wiping his eyes with the back of his gloved hand, Tails nodded his smile now bright. "Sonic once told me the same thing."

Sierra just smiled sadly and didn't say anything ells. She felt awfully strange. Here she was in the middle of the night, sitting with a scared little fox on the stairs and talking about things she never thought about before. It felt….strange.

Truth is: she was jealous of the fox at the moment. Why haven't anyone comforted her like that when she needed it? Why did she spent most of her young years locked inside her room, crying her eyes out and no one even asked her what's wrong? She helped many in the past, but didn't receive help when she needed it.

That was part why she silently hated everyone around her…

**You don't mean nothing.**

**I don't want ya.**

**I don't need ya.**

**Never loved ya.**

**You're a nobody.**

**And I'll never make it.**

**You're a mistake,**

**I will erase…**

To everyone she was like a beautiful porcelain doll. A porcelain doll sealed up in a small box, where she is suffocating little by little. Sierra didn't really thought about it but to many she was oh, so perfect. Magnificent and heavenly. Even her name was beautifully perfect. Her real one and the stage one. Sierra and Selen….two twin dolls.

Yes, she was a broken doll, but she didn't mind it that much…

…Its like she is constantly in a fight with herself. It hurts…this fight inside, but she does it again.

If someone would hear her say these thoughts, they would probably think that she is wrong in the head, but that's okay…she likes to be different.

Likes it very much…

**Why can't I get it right, just cant let go.**

**You open up, I let you down**

**I won't feel that no more.**

**I sleep no more, this is crazy.**

**You aint' nothin' like the others I used to know. **

**I don't mean to take it out on you,**

**But I can't help it**

**Couse I love the pained condition that they left me…**

A loud yawn escaped Tails without warning, and as he sank down to snuggle against Sierra's side, the girl suddenly realized how tired the little fox must be.

"Thank you….Sierra…" the fox murmured. She allowed herself a small smile as she watched the baby fox fall asleep besides her.

**And I, I ****apologize,**

**For makin' you cry**

**Cause I'm nothin' (nothin') but a fallen Ice angel…**

Strangely, she helped someone tonight. It wasn't her intention at first, but she still did it. It felt….strange, but nice at the same time.

People are made to help each other. There are thousand of angels among us, we call them friends. We see them everyday, and don't even know it. They are angels in disguise. Helping people without them knowing who they really are.

She smiled and closed her eyes, laying her head on top of his. For tonight, she will be his angel, his fallen ice angel.

But when the morning comes, she will be a doll again…

…even if an angel-looking one.


	14. An Unpleasant Adventure

**Author's note:**Behold, I have not forgotten this story! .Never! I have big plans for it, and I hope to write all of it eventually. I'm not fully satisfied with this chapter; I have troubles in finishing it. But I'll get there, soon I hope. I just hope you enjoy reading this update.

Thank you to those who reviewed last time! And I hope to hear more of your thoughts!

Love, Amethyst

* * *

**2 months later **

"When will we reach the town?"

Elora looked over her shoulder and gave her friend a comforting smile.

"We're almost there, so stop complaining." Sierra frowned as she tripped over a tree branch. Again…

"I am **not** complaining, I'm just asking."

"Right." Was her friends sarcastic reply.

Sierra growled and continued fallowing her friends through the deep woods. A month ago, Knuckles saved a man named Hawk inside an old temple ruins. Two days ago, while Sierra was visiting Elroa and Knuckles, they got a call from Hawk, who told them that he had found a Red Chaos Emerald in his home town and insisted that they should come and take it, before anyone founds out that he has one. The next morning, Elora, Knuckles and Sierra boarded the first train to Hawk's town. Sadly the train doesn't go straight to the town. To reach it, you have to go through the forest….on foot.

"So," Elora slowed down so Sierra could catch up with her "Have you found out, who left you a blue rose in your dressing room?" Sierra growled softly. After she told Elora about the rose, she started bugging her about it every damn time she could.

"No, I didn't. Anyone could have entered my dressing room that evening, so how should I know." It looked like Elora wanted to say something ells, but thought against it.

So much had happened during the last two months…Sonic and his team, with the help of the military, had finally managed to beat Eggman and destroy his island base. They found the Yellow Chaos Emerald and managed to retrieve the aquamarine one, which Knuckles lost in Dragon Valley. So now, the whole Sonic Team turned into heroes in the eyes of the people in New York and probably the entire world as well.

Sierra wasn't there when the whole fiasco with Eggman took place; she was away on business with Jack, but Elora told her what happened while she was away. Sonic and his friends are now free to go around town without being looked like they are some kind of monsters or strange beasts from out of space. In fact, after they were acknowledged by the humans, they weren't home that much. They now spend their time exploring the human world and searching for the Chaos Emeralds at the same time.

The last two months for Sierra were a drag, simply put it. She kept herself busy with her concerts, so by the time she returned home she would usually take a shower and hit the bed. So, after a few weeks of overworking herself, Jack gave her a small vacation and told her to relax and enjoy herself. Not really having anything to do on her small 'vacation', she decided to spend her free time with Elora and Knuckles. She didn't mind their company, she enjoyed it in fact. With them, she felt more relaxed and not so tensed up like she usually felt while being home.

Knuckles's presence gave her some kind of comforting and safe feeling, while Sonic's, the exact opposite.

With Knuckles, she could relax and….well…..be herself. He didn't treat her like a criminal, who had to be tied up to a chair and asked thousands of questions about her life. With Sonic, in his presence she felt like a criminal, who was hiding some kind of dangerous secret and he was the police officer who will suck the information out of you at all cost. Not to mention, that his little 'promise' to her, about brining the 'real her back to life' still, to this day, gave her the chills.

The thing she hates to most, about their twisted situation, is that she probably lost count of how many nights she told herself that the blue hedgehog will **never** break her 'cool mask' but yet, every time she's near him, or he speaks to her….try's to speak anyway…..she feels so weak and helpless, like she is tangled up in his web and he can easily manipulate her emotions. She hates him for that, for making her feel so weak. The thought of leaving the county until the hedgehog and his little friend's return to their home world sounds were tempting to her.

Who would have thought that a thirteen-year old girl can be so heartless?

After another twenty minutes of walking, they finally reach the small town where Hawk lives. It was a small Chinese town outside of New York City. They would probably get here sooner if they only had a car, but…oh well.

While walking down the streets of the small Chinese town, a few people stared at them, like they were some kind of freak show and the other part, looked at them, or at Knuckles that is, in awe and astonishment. Sierra was surprised that the annoying stares didn't bother the echidna at all. He was ignoring the people around him completely and was walking the streets with a face that said 'I don't give a damn what you think people.'

Soon, Knuckles stopped a man and asked, more like demanded, to know where a bar called '_Jack's place_' was. The poor scared man led them through a dozens of dirty alleys right to the bar they were looking for.

Knuckles went first and the two girls fallowed shortly. Inside was a rather disturbing atmosphere. Three men were sitting by the table, drinking bear and playing carts while another two, wearing black coats, were sitting by the window quietly.

A cold shiver went down Sierra's spine from the angry and malicious looks the men were giving them. She could only imagine what dark thoughts they had at the moment.

"_It's not too late to turn around and run,_" Sierra thought as she tried not to look their way.

Knuckles went to the bartender, ignoring the death glares yet again, and asked where Hawk was. The bartender looked lost for a minute and just stared at Knuckles stupidly, not knowing what to say.

"It's not polite to stare," Knuckles said in a low, dangerous voice. That help, because the bartender immediately found his voice, but sadly the only thing he told was 'sorry, I don't know anything.'

Knuckles eyes narrowed dangerously and a frown appeared on his face, "You're lying."

"Hey, the man said he doesn't know anything, so just thank him and get out, or me and my friends will show you the way out." The three men stood up and went closer to the trio.

"Well, maybe you and your friends are the one's who should leave." Knuckles replied in a calm voice.

"Why you-…"

"Stop this nonsense immediately."

Everyone turned to the door and saw a large man walking towards them. When he stopped in front of Knuckles, he looked down at him with an irritated expression on his face.

"What is your business here?" he asked in a heavy accent.

"A guy named Hawk said I could find him here," Knuckles said calmly, though it wasn't hard to notice that his patience was slowly running out, "he has something I want."

The chubby man looked towards Sierra and Elora and with a, almost sinister grin, turned to Knuckles again.

"You must be Knuckles then," he said, his sinister grin still in place, "I was expecting you….fallow me and I will take you to him."

"Lead the way." Was the echidnas reply. After they left the bar, the two mysterious men, with black coats, had left the bar a few minutes later and walked into a dark alley where no one would see and hear them.

"Who would have thought that we will see Knuckles here."

"We have to report this to Doctor Robotnik immediately."

…**..**

They were walking a good ten minutes before they reach their destination: a small house in some kind of abandoned dark alley. The man led the way as they walked through a half lighted hallway. Soon they reach a door and the man opened it for them, waiting patiently for them to enter. Knuckles narrowed his eyes in suspicions and insisted for the man to go first. To their surprise the man grinned happily and entered the room closing the door behind him.

"What the…." Elora didn't had the chance to finish her sentence, because suddenly a trap door opened and the three of them fell down.

"Quickly grab on to me!" Knuckles shouted to the girls. Elora wrapped her arms around the echidnas neck while Sierra clutched to his waist. Knuckles stopped their fall by punching his fists into the wall.

"Oh my God," Elora moaned as she tried to get over the shock.

"Sierra, can you see what's down there?" Knuckles asked. Sierra looked down, half expecting to find there a tank filled with water and man-eating fish, but saw nothing.

"Aaa…I think it's the ground," she was a little unsure of that, but it was enough for Knuckles, because before the two girls could understand what happened, they were already safe…

...sitting on the hard cement floor in a cell.

"I will share the cell with ya' but don't think I will share the food as well….if you wanna eat you have to wait till tomorrow."

The two girls only now noticed another person in the cell with them. The man had his back turned to them and was eating, what looked like, a bow of rice.

"That's no way to treat a friend." Knuckles said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

The man turned to face them and a sunny grin appeared on his face. Within seconds he was in front of Knuckles, holding his hand in form of a handshake. Sierra blinked in confusion. Did Knuckles know this guy?

"It's so good to see you," the mans voice contained a smile, "how did you get down here?"

"Heh, lets just say I decided to drop in." Just then, the man had finally noticed the two confused girls sitting behind the echidna. A look of pure horror blossomed on his face and he dropped the echidnas hand unnoticed.

"I can't believe those scums had captured two innocent children!" he barked out.

Elora gritted her teeth, trying to ignore the small headache that was slowly forming from the sudden fall and the loud voice of the unknown man.

"Can someone please tell us what's going on?" Elora rubbed her temple to ease the pain. The man blinked and was about to say something but Knuckles interrupted him.

"They're with me." He said simply, "Hawk, those are my friends, Elora Ross and Sierra Edwards." Knuckles pointed to each girl as he introduced them. The men, Hawk, sighed with relieve and the same sunny smile returned on his face.

"Oh, well, nice to meet you, I'm Hawk" Sierra gave him a small wave, while Elora nodded, still rubbing her temple in frustration.

"You said you found a Chaos Emerald?" Knuckles asked in a serious tone. With him it's all business.

"Oh, yes it a red big stone, about this size….." he showed them with his hands. Sierra noticed how the echidnas eyes widened. Yes, obviously the man had found what they were looking for.

"That's it, it's a Chaos Emerald," Knuckles whispered. "It's one step closer to going home." He said more to himself than the others. But by the look on Hawk's face, he was confused by this statement.

"You need the stone to get home," he scratched his neck in confusion, "I thought you need it for money, like I did." He confessed.

"That doesn't matter now," Knuckles turned to Hawk, arms crossed over his chest, "I assume they took the Emerald when they put you here."

Hawk blinked and gave him a relaxed look, "Don't worry, I was smart enough to hide it before they came for me."

While the two talked, Sierra scanned the cell, wondering how long was Hawk sitting here all alone. A shiver went down her spine, the atmosphere in the cell gave her a bad feeling. She was happy to know that those men, who were after the Chaos Emerald, only captured Hawk and put him into a cell. They could have easily beaten the poor man so he would give them the location of the gem, but they didn't. Why?

Turning to the other wall she noticed something strange. It was small, too small to notice at first sight, round and it looked like…

"I put the Emerald-…."

"…-You know the food in here isn't that bad," Sierra interrupted Hawk before he could finish the sentence. The other three turned to her in confusion. What was she talking about?

"I don't remember the last time I had rice, but it sure wasn't as delicious as here." Sierra pointed to the wall behind them, while continuing to talk randomly about rice. Knuckles walked over to the wall and finally noticed the small round microphone which was implanted into the wall.

"Yea, you're right," Knuckles played along, as he slowly clenched his fists angrily, "the food is good here."

"Yea, can't argue with ya there," Hawk entered their little game as well "and this cell isn't half bad, it's kind of cosy when you get use to it, don't you agree?"

"IT'S SURE IS!" Knuckles shouted right into the microphone. Whoever was listening to their conversation had probably gone deaf.

Knuckles didn't wasted any time, he smashed his fist into the wall, creating a hole big enough for them to escape.

"Come on, lets get out of here before they show up," he called out to them, going through the hole first.

It was already dark outside and Sierra wondered, just how long were they sitting in that stupid cell. The streets were surprisingly empty, trash was scattered everywhere, the windows and doors were broken almost in every building that they passed; it gave the feeling like they were running through a ghost town. Hawk noted that this was the old factory district. This part of town is long since abandoned, that's why he chose to hide the Emerald here of all places, so no one could find it.

After another five minutes of running, Hawk stopped them near the abandoned underground subway. "I hid the Emerald down there." He pointed down the way they should go. Knuckles nodded, but before going down, he turned to the girls; a serious expression covered his face.

"It's best if you two stay here and wait for us," he turned away from them and called over his shoulder before disappearing with Hawk underground, "If you see someone coming this way, call us."

"What will we do, when the time comes for Knuckles and his friends to go home?" Elora asked as soon as Knuckles and Hawk disappeared from sight. Sierra watched her, unmoved, before turning her gaze back to the messy streets.

"What do you mean, what will we do once they're gone, we continue to live like we did before, what ells," She told her.

Elora's shoulders slumped. "Do you actually think that after all we've been through, we can continue living like we did before?"

"I don't see a problem here." Sierra replied simply.

Elora looked away. She wished that she could read Sierra's feelings and thoughts, so she could understand her friend better.

"He worries about you, you know," Elora said in a quiet voice.

Sierra turned back to her, her expression didn't change, but Elora could tell, she was interested.

"Who?"

"Sonic...he wants to help you, but you always push him away." Elora's voice was so plaintive, so saddened, that Sierra hesitated speaking again.

"You silently hurt him every time you give him the cold shoulder. I don't know what happened between you two, but I don't think it was something so awful, that you have to avoid him everyday." She looked down, her voice cracking as she spoke next. "If you got hurt in the past, don't hurt people around you today, it's not their fault."

Sierra did not respond. What could she possible say to that? Elora already knew that she was right, so why bother lying now?

Sierra looked up at the night sky, as she thought about Elora's words. Just how much did she hurt the hedgehog? And did he even care about her? She mentally scoffed, knowing that of course he would care; he let her know that on the day they build the new Tornado. The truth is, she always wanted to be spoiled with sweet and comforting words, always wanted to have an older brother, who would protect her from everything and everyone and offer her some advice when she needed it the most. She knew that she will never have someone like that in her life. People are not like that in real life. Sure they care; they help, but not in the way she wanted, needed.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash coming from the alley.

"What was that?" Elora jumped a mile at the sound of the crash. Sierra looked around, but saw nothing.

"I don't see any-..."

"Behind you!"

Just as Sierra turned around, someone gave her a painful strike across the face, sending her backwards against the wall. The cut stung like nothing before, the blood running down, into her mouth. She could now taste the coppery taste of her own blood. The taste made her dizzy, relaxing back into the wall, sliding down to sit on the ground to just look helplessly up at her attacker and do nothing. Her eyes were barely open...the blood was running over them, blurring her vision. She heard Elora scream, but she couldn't move, she felt like she was about to faint. She could feel a heavy haze settle around her, slipping away into the realm of unconsciousness. She was hardly able to react when someone kneeled down in front of her.

"Hang on, I'll help you, hon." Sierra looked up, her vision blurry and unfocused, to see a dark figure hovering over her. Suddenly she was being lifted to her feet, then off her feet. She felt cold wind on her skin, and shivered uncomfortably.

Soon she was back on the ground, her back pressed against the wall. Someone was attempting to clean her face up. Sierra opened her mouth but didn't say anything, she was still to dizzy to think properly. Somehow the thought of her friends in trouble came to her and she tried to explain it to her saviour.

"E-Elora...Knuckles...in trouble...in...in the sub-subway..." she managed to murmured weakly. The person sitting next to her gasped softly, and she felt a gloved hand on her cheek.

"Knuckles, as in a red echidna?" the voice was female, but it was unfamiliar to her.

She nodded slowly, closing her eyes just to make the dizziness go away. The person said something to her but she couldn't hear them, because everything went black...

**...**

The sun had been up for a long time when Sierra woke up. She opened her eyes, then closed them sharply again. She didn't want to wake up. She felt a sharp pain in her head and put her hand to her forehead. There was a heavy bandage there.

"You're finally coming around," someone came to her side and touched her bandaged head. "How are you feeling now,Sierra?"

Upon opening her sapphire eyes, she was met with aquamarine ones. Sierra blinked a few times, her vision slowly returning to her.

"Awful," she murmured. When she finally saw who was standing next to her she almost jumped in surprise and shock. There was a girl, animal...animal girl, with big ears and white fur.

"Who are you?" Sierra demanded. The girl sighed and sat down on a chair next to the bad.

"Don't be afraid, Sierra, I'm a friend of Knuckles', my name is, Rouge the Bat. I was the one who found you and brought you here." The bat girl explained.

Sierra slowly sat up. Her head hurt badly, but thankfully she wasn't dizzy anymore. She scanned the room, which wasn't much: a bed, a small table and a closet. Where was she exactly?

"Where are we?" she turned to the bat girl, who was patiently sitting on the chair.

"I man named Hawk lives here, he was with Knuckles when I found him." She answered. Before Sierra could ask anything ells, a loud crash was heard outside the room.

"What was that?"

Rouge sighed and looked down at her feet sadly. "While I took you to safety, the other girl was captured by Eggman's robot. Knuckles was furious when he found out, and I guess he is still 'spiting fire' outside. "

Sierra's eyes went wide after hearing this. Eggman had Elora? Sierra jumped to her feet, ignoring her injured head and went for the door. Rouge went after her, shouting something about her injury, but she ignored her, she had to know what happened after she fainted.

Sierra rushed into the room, where Knuckles apparently smashed a table into pieces, and stopped next to a shocked looking Hawk.

She took a deep breath. "What happened?" Everyone turned to look at her. There was a strange glint in her eye, and she looked extremely nervous. Knuckles understood at once.

"Eggman captured Elora and his robot attacked you!" Knuckles he cried out, looking nothing short of furious.

Sierra winced from the echidna's loud voice. "What will happen to her now?" Her voice was shaking. Knuckles shook his head, clearly not in the mood to go into details, turned around and left the small house, slamming the door on his way out. An uncomfortable silence filled the room, and Sierra looked down at Rouge for help. The bat sighed and took her back to the bedroom.

"What will that madman do to her?" Sierra asked the bat, trembling. Rouge sat down on the same chair, near the bed, and took a deep breath.

"I'm sure Eggman won't hurt her, he wants us to give him the Emerald-..."

"You found the Chaos Emerald?" Sierra cried out at this. Rouge nodded, her hands were folding in and out of each other in her lap.

"Yes, the red one," she said. Sierra waited patiently for the white bat to continue her brief explanation. "We will try to rescue your friend without giving him the Emerald."

Sierra nodded slowly and lied down, putting a hand to her wounded head.

"Knuckles mentioned that the others are living with you at the moment." Rouge suddenly said. Sierra nodded, too tired to reply.

"Thank you for helping my friends, I can tell you're not like other humans." At this Sierra turned her head toward Rouge. She raised her eyebrow quizzically.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well for one thing, you got Sonic to trust you," the bat explained, giving the girl a playful smirk. "When it comes to his friends, he could be '_a bit_' overprotective, and seeing that he never came across other humans, except for Eggman, who brings nothing but destruction to our world, you somehow managed to gain his trust."

"What makes you think that he trusts me?" Sierra asked sternly.

"Because he agreed to stay at your house, without really knowing you."

"That is probably because I've saved him." Sierra turned away from the bat and stared at the ceiling.

"Saved him?" Rouge asked.

"From drowning." Sierra finished. From the corner of her eye, she saw Rouge smile widely.

"….I see," Sierra's frown got darker and Rouge's smile got bigger.

Sierra closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep. Maybe if she took a short nap the migraine would disappear….

…**..**

_The bright ray of the morning sun glimmered all throughout the secret garden__, gracing its rose-hedge, and everything else within its grasp, sufficient warmth and nourishment._ _From the centre of the magnificent garden, lay a table, where there sat a beautiful echidna girl lavished in white._

_On the table, in front of her, seven beautiful gems were lying in a circle. _

_Blue, yellow, red, purple, white, green and c__yan. _

_The girl stood up and treaded her rose-filled garden as the bright sun glazed upon her white dress. _

_From a bush she picked seven __colourful roses and returned to her table. From her arms, she picked a blue rose and placed it next to the blue gem._

"_Sonic"_

_Then came the yellow rose, which was placed next to the yellow gem._

"_Miles"_

_Then __the purple and cyan roses._

"_Blaze and Rouge" _

_Another pair was added __next to the green and white gems._

_She then placed the last__ red rose next to its matching gem._

"…_..Knuckles"_

_She held her chin and studied the position of the roses._

"_In order for peace to continue, the seven Guardians must reunite__ once again," the girl said softly."But, how?"_

_Suddenly, a gentle, yet strong wind blew through the garden, carrying millions of different flowers on its way. The flowers flew above the rose formation, on the table, and then dropped gently to the ground, with only one flower landing in the centre of the gem circle. _

_The girl walked closer and a bright, hope filled smile, blossomed on her face. _

_Among the seven roses__ and gems, lay one pink lily. _

_The girl picked up the flower and examined it closely. _

"_Ah, but of course, the lily, a flower which symbolise both purity and passion," the flower was put back in the circle, gently. "You will be the chain, who will bound everyone together, you will be the light next to their darkness and the undying flame for their love." _

_The garden was slowly disappearing into the bright light and only the sound of the gentle wind was heard..._

_**...**_

It was past midnight when Sierra woke up. Knuckles and Rouge were preparing to go meet Eggman, while Hawk would stay home and wait for their return.

"Are you sure?" Sierra asked. "What if he grabs the Emerald and won't give us back Elora?"

"Don't worry, hon, Eggman doesn't know that I'm around," Rouge said. "I will grab the Emerald, while Knuckles rescues Elora."

Sierra sighed and leaned into the couch, feeling tired once again. "Just bring her back...and come back safe." She added the last part just above a whisper.

"We will," Rouge promised and left the room. Knuckles went for the door as well, but suddenly stopped and turned to Hawk.

"Look after Sierra for us."

"Don't worry, she's safe here, you just bring back the other girl." Hawk said. Knuckles nodded and was about to leave, but Sierra's voice stopped him.

"Knuckles..."

His amethyst eyes met her sapphire ones and she continued.

"...use the power of the Red Chaos Emerald." She said weakly. Knuckles' eyes widened.

"What?"

Sierra tore her gaze away from him and turned to the window instead.

"Just do it...trust me."

When she heard him leave, she turned away from the window and stared at the place where he stood just moments ago.

"_Maybe it's stupid to follow a dream, but would it hurt to try?_" She thought to herself wearily.

_To be Continued..._


	15. The second Chaos Guardian

**A/N:** And here we have Chapter 15.

To be honest, I don't really like it, but you be the judge of that.

I'm already halfway through the next chapter. It will be interesting, I can promise you that.

I was asked about the Green and White Emeralds and about Amy and Cream. I tell you, don't worry about that now. That fact is not really important at the moment. I will give you a hint about them from time to time, but for now, don't bother yourself with them. ;)

It's not their time to shine! Heheh.

Well anyway, enjoy this chapter and till next time!

Love, Amethyst

* * *

**Elora's POV **

I groaned, feeling numb all over my body. My eyes refused to open, so I was left to the darkness behind my eyelids. However, my sense of hearing and touch seemed to sharpen, and I was surprised of what I was feeling. My eyes finally shot open, and I gasped when I realized, that I was hanging ten stories high from the ground, and only the rope that was tied to a metal pole was keeping me from falling down.

I looked around, what appeared to be an abandoned construction site. It was night time; everything was drowned in complete darkness. There were no lights down bellow, nothing.

I breathed heavily. "What happened to me?"

"Isn't it obvious, my dear, you were kidnapped."

I flinched at the voice that seemed to travel all around me. I looked around, but no one was there.

"Who's there?" I demanded.

"My, my, aren't we brave."

Finally someone appeared from the shadows. Red shirt, dark glasses, a small egg-like shaped hovercraft...

Dr. Eggman...

"It's you..." I said aloud, fear went through my body.

"So, sorry to bring you into this, my dear, but desperate times require desperate measures." Eggman said in an almost playful quality to his voice.

"What do you want from me?"

"From you? Nothing. I only want the Chaos Emerald, which Knuckles will bring me soon." He answered with a smug grin.

"Why should he?" My train of thought crashed into a wreck, sputtering to a stop. I gaped at him until he decided to speak again.

"...Because he wants you back, safe and sound."

I was quiet after that. The fear came back to me at full force. I was scared. I didn't know what would happen next. I didn't know what Eggman was planning. I didn't want him anywhere near Knuckles.

But, what could I possible do now?

**End of POV**

_Borderline, dead inside,  
I don't mind, falling to pieces  
Count me in, violent, let's begin,  
feeding the sickness__..._

Knuckles looked around, taking in his surroundings. The streets were dark, empty and abandoned. Not a soul in sight.

Knuckles grunted and continued walking to the meeting place. He could care less about the dirty city, all that mattered was to find and rescue Elora.

"How long till we reach our destination?" Rouge, who had been silently walking behind Knuckles, had finally asked. Knuckles didn't respond. He only grunted something that was inaudible and kept moving.

"We'll soon be there." He said after a few minutes of silence.

After another ten minutes of walking, the pair had finally reached their destination: the old abandoned construction site.

"Is this the place?" Rouge asked Knuckles, breathlessly, after looking around the area.

"Yes, we're here."

They walked closer to the construction site and looked around for any sight of Eggman's robots.

"Alright, you fly to the other side of this building and wait for my signal," Knuckles explained his plan to the bat. "The minute I throw the Chaos Emerald you grab it and make a run for it...got it?"

"Yes." Rouge nodded.

Knuckles looked up at the sky, seeming deep in thought.

"What is it?" Rouge asked.

The echidna shook his head and turned to leave. "Nothing...Go, now."

The bat watched as her partner entered the half finished building and flew into the air, flying to the other side, where Eggman won't see her.

_How do I, simplify, dislocate,  
the enemy's on the way_

Show me what it's like,  
to dream in black and white,  
so I can leave this world tonight.

Soon Knuckles reached the top of the building, where he saw Elora hanging from a metal pole. A robot was standing near the girl, guarding her. It was the same robot that attacked Knuckles and Hawk in the subway.

The female ninja: E-91.

Knuckles walked towards the robot, the pouch with the Chaos Emerald, was in his hand. As he came closer, a computer image of Eggman appeared before him.

"Good evening," the Doctor greeted him. "I trust you brought the Chaos Emerald with you?"

Knuckles looked at Elora, making sure the girl wasn't hurt, before taking out the Emerald and showing it to Eggman.

"Good, now give it to the little lady." With that the image of Eggman disappeared.

Knuckles put the Emerald back inside the pouch and threw it at the robot. The ninja girl was about to catch the pouch, when suddenly it went flying in the other direction.

The robot looked around, trying to understand what had happened, but was punched in the face by Knuckles, while Rouge flew down to catch the fallen Emerald.

Knuckles quickly untied Elora and brought her down on the ground.

"Are you alright, Elora?" Knuckles asked, concern now deeply etched on his face. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

Elora shook her head, still breathing heavily from the shock. "No, no I'm fine, don't worry."

Knuckles then turned in the direction, where the robot had fallowed Rouge. "Elora, stay here I have to go and help Rouge."

He ran off before Elora could say anything to him.

"Be careful you two." Elora said aloud, after the echidna disappeared from sight.

**...**

"Give me back my Emerald!" the robot girl growled, as she chased Rouge around the city. Rouge made a sharp turn to her left, trying desperately to lose the robot, but that damn thing was closing up on her.

"How about you get lost, metal chick!" Rouge scoffed.

Seeing that she won't be able to lose her, Rouge lunged herself at her target. She turned and prepared for an aerial roundhouse kick. Before contact could happen, the ninja grabbed Rouge by her boot and punched her to the ground below. Rouge hit the cement floor, hard, and the robot landed next to her. She then raised her own boot to the air and revealed a needle lodged in the heel. Before she pierced a hole into Rouge's head, Rouge did a quick roll to the side.

"Your blood will be spilled before the night is through," said E-91

"Don't you ever shut up?" asked Rouge.

Rouge was suddenly blindsided by the ninja. She tackled Rouge to the ground and started clawing at Rouge's face. Rouge responded by using her boot to kick the ninja in the back and off of her. During the fight she failed to notice that she had lost the pouch with the Emerald.

Just as the robot was about to attack the bat again, she went flying into the nearest building by Knuckles' punch.

"Knuckles….thanks," she said in a slightly muted voice. He nodded and helped her up.

"Where's the Emerald?" he asked after he noticed that the pouch was missing.

"I lost it after she knocked me down." Rouge responded, while throwing a glance to where robo-lady was.

"Duck!"

Rouge pushed Knuckles down as a small dagger flew between her and Knuckles. The robot took out her sword and was about to attack but Knuckles punched the ground and caused a small tremor, making her fall.

"Come on, let's go find the Emerald." Knuckles grabbed Rouge's hand and ran towards the streets, where Rouge was attacked.

_Full of fear, ever clear,  
I'll be here, fighting forever  
Curious, venomous, you'll find me,  
climbing to heaven  
Nevermind, turn back time, you'll be fine,  
I will get left behind_

Knuckles and Rouge ran through the busy streets, searching for the Emerald. People were walking by, looking at them strangely but they ignored them. They had to find the Emerald.

"Darn, where is it!" Knuckles growled impatiently. Rouge flew into the air, and searched from the sky. For a few minutes she couldn't find anything, but then she saw a red glow coming from the market area.

"I found it, Knuckles," she called and flew towards the market place, whit Knuckles fallowing her from the ground.

Rouge landed on the ground, near the Emerald, and as she reached out to take it, a few shuriken stopped her from touching the Emerald. The bat only managed to turn around, when she was suddenly ambushed from behind by the female ninja.

"No escape now!" said the robot as she wrapped a wire around Rouge's neck and started pulling. The garrotte wire was made from a fishing wire; so it was very strong.

Rouge could feel the breath being squeezed from her body. Her eyes felt like they were being pushed out of their sockets. Her face was quickly turning pale. She gagged and wiggled trying to get free to no avail. The wire wouldn't break or loosen. She just felt getting tighter and tighter the longer E-91 held it around her neck. Her strength was quickly leaving her as she became closer and closer to suffocation. She knew that if she did not do something quick, she was done for.

Suddenly, a big smash was heard from behind her, and she was free from the death grip.

Rouge quickly removed the garrotte wire from around her neck and gasped for air on her knees. She had almost blacked out there, but her strong will kept her going. Once she was finally able to, she stood back on her feet.

"Rouge, are you alright?" she could hear Knuckles not far away from her. It was probably thanks to him that she was still alive.

"Fine, I'm fine," she managed to say.

Knuckles went and grabbed the Emerald, but as soon as he stood up, he was couth with the same wire, the one Rouge was just moments ago. Suddenly a painful scream filled the air. Knuckles turned and saw Rouge tied up again, only this time eclectic waves were running through the wire, making the bat scream in pain and agony.

"Rouge!" Knuckles only made a few steps forward, when he was electrocuted as well.

"Agh!" Knuckles yelled as desperately tried to remove the wire from his body. Fighting his way through the pain, Knuckles clutched the Red Emerald tighter. At that moment, Sierra's words came to his mind...

"_Use the power of the Red Chaos Emerald... Just do it, trust me." _

"Ugh," groaned the dazed echidna, as he tried to stand. The pain was unbelievable, if he doesn't find a way to break the wire, the he and Rouge will be done for.

Rouge's pained screams become louder and the echidna cursed inside his mind.

"The hell with it," Angrily he fell to his knee, gripping the Emerald.

"Chaos Emerald, lend me your power!" The Emerald glowed brightly, swallowing the area around them in a soft red light. When Knuckles opened his eyes, all he saw was white. A pure white abyss of nothingness.

"What happened?" Knuckles asked himself.

"_You are the chosen Guardian._" A deep voice rumbled in his ear, emanating from somewhere within this white world.

"W-what?"

"_You are the second Chaos Guardian, you posses the power of the Red Chaos Emerald, Knuckles the Echidna._"

"I am the second Guardian?" Knuckles repeated slowly.

The light become brighter, blinded him, then dimmed down to reveal a place with a long stone bridge leading to a structure in the middle of a beautiful area. Knuckles blinked until his eyesight was back to normal, then took it all in.

"Where am I this time?" he questioned. The stone bridge seemed like the only way to go, so he sprinted down to the other side. "It's feels so…safe here. Like I know the place like the back of my hand!"

When Knuckles climbed up the stairs at the other end, he realized with a shock that the place was far more familiar than he ever could have imagined.

The Master Emerald sat full and complete on its altar, an echidna girl standing in front of it.

"_The seven Guardians must reunite again," _the girl said softly to herself. _"And only the Key of Destiny can bring them back together."_

As Knuckles observed the place he thought he knew well, he noticed the Chaos Emeralds sitting peacefully on tall pillars, all seven circling their master. There was a small moat of water around the altar, one that Knuckles never recalled there being.

The girl turned away from the Master Emerald to two Chao that had suddenly appeared. They made frightened noise and flew around, obviously terrified.

_"Don't worry my friends. The Key of Destiny won't let you down!"_ she started to walk past Knuckles, disregarding his presence. _"I must do something quickly!"_

Knuckles' eye softened as the vision disappeared…

_Show me what it's like,  
to dream in black and white,  
so I can leave this world tonight.  
Holding on too tight,  
bring the breath of life,  
so I can leave this world behind._

Sierra was sitting on the bed, deep in thoughts, while Hawk was in the kitchen, preparing something for the injured girl. She was wondering about the dream she had. Was it real, or just some silly fragment of her imagination?

Of course it was fake! She was just stressed out about the whole situation, and that led to this outrageous dream, that made no sense what so ever.

"But why did I have the feeling like it was real...like it actually meant something?" she said aloud. Suddenly she noticed something from the corner of her eyes. She turned to the window and gasped. She quickly ran to the window and opened it.

From somewhere in the city, came a bright red light. After a few minutes the light disappeared and the black night sky was seen again.

"W-what was that?" Sierra said in shock.

**... **

When Knuckles returned back to the "real" world, the first thing he noticed was, that the female ninja robot was lying in front of him, destroyed beyond repairs and Rouge lying a few feet away from him unconscious.

"W-what happened here?" The Emerald was still in his hand, glowing softly.

"Knuckles!" the said echidna turned to the voice and saw his human friend running towards him.

"Elora, what happened?" he asked when the girl reached him.

"I have no idea; all I saw was this bright red light covering this entire area and then nothing."

"Damn it," Knuckles growled. He then ran to his injured partner and picked her up. She was burned, but nothing life treating.

"Come on; let's return to Hawk's house." Elora nodded and fallowed her friend.

**...**

The next morning the four friends were preparing to leave the small town by boat, with Hawk helping them leave unnoticed.

"You all take care now, and come back to visit anytime," Hawk waved goodbye.

"We will, that you for everything," Elora yelled back. Sierra was next to her friend, waving to the man as well.

"Man, what an adventure, that was fun." Elora said when the boat left the town and swam into the open sea. Sierra huffed and crossed her arms.

"You were kidnapped, me and Rouge got hurt, I won't really call it a fun adventure." She hissed.

Elora just rolled her eyes and turned her attention to the sea, while her friend continued to whine and complain about their dangerous adventure.

On the other side of the boat, Knuckles and Rouge were discussing the events from the night before.

"Call me crazy, but I just knew that you were one of the seven Chaos Guardians, Knuckie," Rouge teased the poor echidna. "Call it intuition."

Knuckles looked down at his Red Chaos Emerald, which was still glowing softly.

"Yeah, and you're not the only one," he turned his gaze to the two girls, who were still bickering about something. Rouge fallowed his gaze.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"It's just a thought, but I think Sierra knows something about the Chaos Guardians that we don't," Knuckles said, his voice serious, eyes tensed.

"_She told me to use the power of the Emerald that means she __**does **__know something…but then, why didn't she say anything to Sonic, or anyone for that matter?_"

Something just isn't right here…

_It only hurts just once,  
they're only broken bones,  
hide the hate inside__..._

Show me what it's like,  
to dream in black and white,  
so I can leave this world tonight.  
Holding on too tight,  
Breathe a breath of life,  
so I can leave this world behind


	16. At the Emerald Coast

"The new Emerald Coast Resort sounds like a great place to get away from it all!" Stars shone in the eyes of Amy Rose as she recalled what she had read about the new ocean-side resort.

Everyone had been planning the trip to the beach for weeks, and the day had finally arrived. Tails prepared the X-Tornado for the flight as Cream and Cheese climbed into the passenger seats. Sonic was resting atop a shelf as the preparations were being made.

"You can hang out at the beach, or float in the crystal clear ocean all day long, and dine as you watch a spectacular sunset!" Amy continued. "It sounds absolutely romantic! I wish we were going to the opening party!"

Due to Mrs. Edwards's absence, the task of attending the opening party at the resort had been left to Sierra.

"We'll have fun at the Edward's villa," Cream assured everyone. "Are you ready to go, Cheese?"

The tiny, blue creature's face showed its happiness. "Chao! Chao!"

Tails spoke up from the ship's cockpit. "I'm ready to go too guys! My flight plan will take us right to the Emerald Coast!"

Sierra was waiting, by the car, for Ella and Laura. She wasn't really that exited about going to this party, but as it seemed, she didn't had a choice. She had to go.

With nothing better to do, Sierra turned to the car window and examined her new dress. The white dress gave a look inspiring the ancient Mongolia conqueror period. It was knee length, frilly bottom with lace inside. The outside of the dress, was made of lace fabric, stand collar with two golden Chinese buttons, short puffy sleeves and frilly bottom. On her waist was a matched golden bowknot with a Chinese knot and a similar bow was in her hair, attached to her bun.

Sierra heard a soft gasp behind her, and turned around, only to find an awestruck Amy standing in front of her, with sparkles in her emerald eyes.

"You. Look. Absolutely. Beautiful! " the pink hedgehog cried out.

A small smile appeared on Sierra's lips. She was glad that her look was approved, she will have to greet a lot of gussets, and she wanted to look her best.

"And don't be nervous Sier;" Amy reassured her, "that opening party will be just fine."

"Thank you, Amy." Sierra said with a soft smile. At that moment, Ella and Laura had finally arrived.

"Well, let us be off then, Miss." Laura said, and sat down to the driver's seat, while Ella took the passenger's seat.

"You all be careful, and look after each other in the water." Sierra warned and climbed into the car. Amy nodded and waved goodbye.

"We will, don't worry, you just enjoy yourself." Amy said excitedly. She watched as the car drove away and then headed back to the garage.

"Stay safe, and don't swim out to far," Greg finished telling the animals, just as Amy returned.

The blue hero cracked an eye as he looked at them. "You guys go on without me. I'm gonna stay right here."

Silence fell over everybody. "Huh?"

Amy put her hands on her hips. "What? You mean you aren't going, Sonic?"

He hopped down off of the shelf. "That's right," Sonic turned to leave. "Have fun, gotta run!"

"Oh, no you don't!" Amy grabbed his arm before he could run off. He nearly dragged her with him, but stopped himself in time.

"Amy...let go, I don't want to go." The blue hedgehog tapped his foot impatiently.

She looked him determinedly. "Sonic, why don't you want to go with us to the beach? There are a lot of other things to do besides just swimming!"

Sonic shot a similar look right back.

Amy sighed; they didn't have time for this. "Look, I won't make you go in the water Sonic, but can't you come with us? I promise you won't regret it."

Sonic stood with his arms crossed, evidently deciding whether or not to go. Amy saw her chance to finish the argument. "Please?"

Sonic looked at the pink hedgehog and let out a sigh. "Alright Amy, I'll go with you guys this time."

Amy squealed and caught Sonic in a crushing hug. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you Sonic!"

"Amy…can't…breathe…" Sonic's muzzle turned the colour of his fur as air was being cut off.

The pink hedgehog gasped and released him. "I'm so sorry Sonic…I've gotta learn to stop doing that!"

Tails got everyone's attention. "If you guys are ready, jump in and let's go!"

Sonic and Amy hopped into the X-Tornado and Tails closed the cockpit glass. Once outside, Tails ignited the engines, as well as extended the wings of the plane.

Everyone sat with rising anticipation as Greg used a remote to lower the trees.

Tails smiled. "Next stop, Emerald Coast. Hang on!"

Suddenly, the engines kicked in, sending the plane ahead with such speed that its passengers were forced back into their seats. Tails strained to reach the control handles.

"Here we go!" Tails pulled back on the handles. The airplane lifted off the ground; the landing wheels were drawn into the ship.

**...**

_The medicine is blending in mixing the blood with oxygen  
I need this right now to figure myself out  
Cutting through the ribbons of self doubt  
I never thought you'd see me this way  
You are the worst and I am to blame_

Cream laughed as she swam next to Cheese, who was in a striped inner tube. Tails swam next to the rabbit and used his twin namesakes to splash water at the two. He chuckled as Cream desperately tried to get him back.

Amy glided through the crystal clear water. Ahead of her, a few fish looked at her oddly, before swimming away.

The pink hedgehog resurfaced and removed her goggles. "This place is unbelievable!"

"It sure is Amy! I'm really glad we came!" Tails stated.

"And we'll have even more fun if Sierra comes," Cream reminded everyone.

Amy looked towards the shoreline and sighed. Sonic was just lying in a lawn chair doing absolutely nothing. She knew she couldn't make him go swimming, but she thought he could use some company.

Sonic didn't hear her approach his resting place, as his eyes were closed. "Sonic?"

He opened his eyes to see Amy hovering over him, smiling. "Yes, Amy?"

As he sat up, Amy began twiddling her fingers. "Would you…umm…go for a walk along the beach with me?"

Sonic stared at the pink hedgehog. She was wearing a red bathing suit top and skirt; both pieces were polka-dotted with hearts. _"__She's actually asking me instead of forcing me to go?" _He shook his head and smiled. "Sure, Amy. Let's go."

Amy grinned from ear to ear as she helped Sonic to his feet. He held her hand as they began to walk down the beach together.

Tails noticed the two hedgehogs walking and said, "Hey Sonic, where are you two goin'?"

The cobalt speedster turned his head and winked at his little bro. "We'll be back later, buddy!"

Cream looked at them and smiled. "I hope Sonic has fun today, its sad watching him doing nothing, while we're havin' fun."

Tails chuckled. "We'll just have to wait and see, Cream."

**...**

Sierra let out a tired sigh after greeting another wealthy couple. She was doing it since she came here, which was about three hours ago. She was tired of just standing there, greeting people and answering heir stupid questions like: 'how does it feel to be the child of such famous parents?' or 'do you plan to become an actress like your father, or do you have something ells in mind?' and other annoying questions.

At the moment, she really wished that she was with the others at the beach, swimming and sunbathing, instead of standing here, looking pretty, and doing nothing.

"Miss Edwards." Laura whispered and Sierra noticed another couple coming her way. She sighed one more time and put a plastic smile on her face.

It was going to be a long, **boring**, day.

**... **

_Close the door, lock it tight  
Then I'll know you're safe tonight  
Turn on a song that means the most  
Believe I'm there and hold me close_

Amy walked on the smooth, sandy surface, feeling the tiny grains in-between her toes. However, something had been troubling her. "Hey, Sonic?"

She noticed that he was looking towards the resort, where Sierra was attending the party, but instantly turned to face her after she said his name.

"Yes?"

"I've been wondering," she looked into his eyes, "why don't you like the water at all?"

Sonic sighed and looked ahead along the beach. "I just…never learned how to swim. I've always been cautious around any type of water," he admitted.

When Amy didn't reply, Sonic continued. "I never told anyone because I thought they would see it as a weakness and use it against me."

"You could learn anytime." Amy said. She looked at his face and saw such distress and fear.

"I don't think I could; not now anyway, I don't think that there is something that will make me jump into the water, anytime soon."

After a few minutes of silence, his gaze landed on the far away resort once again.

"If it wasn't for her, you wouldn't be here today," Sonic turned to face Amy again. She was looking at the ocean; there was a sad look in her eyes.

Sonic looked at the ocean and then back at the hedgehog girl. "Sorry?"

Amy turned to face him; a small smile appeared on her face, "Sierra. If it wasn't for her, you would have drowned in that pool, the day you came to Earth."

For a few minutes, neither of them spoke as they continued their walk. Sonic was in his own thoughts and Amy could only hope that he will decide to share his distress with her.

_She is in my bloodstream, tonight she's draining me  
The room is filled with reds and blues  
I follow as she leads into the darkness  
Drying up my veins, she's a ghost, a silhouette  
Calling out my name_

"I don't know how to help her."

He had stopped walking, and Amy had walked a little further before she had realized he stopped. She turned to him and tilted her head in question. He had been looking at the resort for a second, then looked at her, face as if etched from stone, but those eyes remained emerald green, cool and yet not angry.

"Maybe...maybe she doesn't need any help." Amy shifted her eyes to the side.

"Amy, I know that if things stay the way they are now, in Sierra's life, then her future won't be a bright one."

Mixed feelings... he was very hard to read for her, but Amy really wanted to help, she really wanted to understand him. She was trying.

"I don't know what to say, Sonic...I think you should give it time." She picked her word carefully. She had noticed, from her first day on Earth that Sonic had developed a sort of soft spot for Sierra and she could tell that he sincerely wanted to help the poor girl. Almost three months had passed and nothing had changed between the two. It was sad really...

She could only wish and hope that everything will turn out well in the end for them.

Sonic stayed quiet, and continued their walk. What if Amy is right and that all Sierra needs is more time to herself. But what if not? What if leaving her alone to herself will be the biggest mistake he ever made. He met people in the past, who suffered greatly in their lives and the suffering only increased, because they were left alone. No one was there with them, no one helped. Those people, who had a chance for a better and brighter future, were literally destroyed, and only because they were left for themselves.

The same thing could have happened to Tails, Knuckles, and Rouge. If he left them alone, all those years ago, would they even be alive today? Maybe they would, but what would they be like? Rude, heartless...sadistic?

Sonic shook his head, throwing away all doubts. If there is a problem, you have to solve it, not ignore it.

And he will be damned if he lets Sierra suffer alone.

_These lies will fall into the pieces I left you  
Of your favorite picture torn in two  
I never thought we'd end up this way  
You are the worst, I am to blame_

**...**

Amy was lost in her daydream world, while she and Sonic continued their walk along the beach. They were walking around for two hours now, and Amy was enjoying every minute of it. Despite them all living together in their manor, back on their home planet, they usually were too busy to just sit around at home, together, and talk about random things. She kind of missed those rare moments which they had from time to time.

Tails was usually in his lab, inventing something new. Wave as well.

Knuckles was coming to his island everyday to check on the Master Emerald.

Rouge was treasure hunting and sometimes it took her a few days to return home, sometimes weeks even.

Vector, Charmy and Espio, also known as Team Chaotix, were usually running their Detective Agency, which wasn't that far from their home, but still...

Cream was spending her free time with her mother.

And Sonic...was usually off running somewhere.

Amy sighed sadly as she thought about her friends, who were left behind on Mobius and probably had no idea of what had happened to them. She decided to voice this to Sonic.

"Sonic, what do you think Vector and the others are doing now?" Amy asked with an unsure face. "I mean, they have no idea of what happened to us. Vector was away on some kind of mission with Charmy and Espio and Wave was visiting her father in Metal City."

"I'm sure they will be alright," Sonic assured her. "They will probably guess that something happened when they notice that Eggman's base is missing."

"Yeah, and we're with it." Amy added sarcastically.

Suddenly a loud explosion in the distance caught the two hedgehogs off guard. Sonic looked out across the channel to where the thick black smoke was coming from. His eyes widened when he saw where it was.

"Oh my God, that's the place where Sierra is! We gotta go help everyone!" Amy cried out. "I'll go back and tell Tails and Cream. Sonic, you go ahead and check what happened there!"

The cobalt hero grinned and flashed a thumbs-up. "Will do, Ames." With that, he disappeared.

The pink hedgehog looked in the direction that he ran._ "__Be careful Sonic…"_ she thought as she ran back to the villa.

_Close the door, lock it tight  
Then I'll know you're safe tonight  
Turn on a song that means the most  
Believe I'm there and hold me close_

**...**

Panic was eminent as all of the people at the opening party ran to safety. From the ocean emerged a large, mechanical, octopus-like robot emerged. Nearby, a large egg-shaped man floated in a hovering vehicle.

"I'm turning the Emerald Coast Resort into my kind of stomping ground," Eggman declared.

He pressed several buttons on his vehicle. The robot began to destroy all of the boats and yachts surrounding the island.

Sierra stood in stunned surprise as the resort was assaulted. Ella and Laura had managed to evacuate the area with the rest of the guests, unfortunately, she wasn't so lucky. She got lost in the mob, and was left behind.

Eggman turned towards his ship. "Alright, time for my deconstruction crew!"

Hundreds of small droids armed with claws, drills and hammers invaded the resort and began to tear everything down.

Sierra watched the display in front of her: fear slowly creeping through her body. "Not so boring day anymore."

Eggman's robots surrounded her. "You're my first guest. Welcome to Robotnik's Scream Park, where your first vacation is guaranteed to be your last!" To his surprise and pleasure, he recognised the annoying girl, who somehow managed to spoil his plans a few times in the past.

"What a surprise to see you here girly," Eggman looked down at Sierra. "So, sorry to ruin your party, but I just couldn't help but come."

"Why are you here, Eggman?" Sierra asked in a voice that had no shortage of hostility in it. Eggman stared at Sierra for a minute, a familiar anger rising within his gut.

"That's Doctor Robotnik to you _Miss,_" the Doctor retorted with an equal amount of hostility. He had to remind himself just why he was putting himself through this. His own Park, it was worth it.

"That's Miss Edwards to you _Sir_."

A grin appeared on Eggman's face and he flew closer to her.

"Then sit down and enjoy yourself, Miss Edwards, because you will be my guest for a while."

**...**

Amy looked through a pair of binoculars at the resort as Cream held Cheese out of fear. The pink hedgehog gasped as she recognized the mastermind. "It's Eggman!" The Doctor was shouting orders to his robots.

"Out of the way!"

The girls turned to see Tails preparing to take off. "I've gotta save Sierra!"

Amy tossed the binoculars to the fox before hopping into the backseat of the plane. Tails was confused. "Amy, what are you doing?"

"Sonic's gonna stop that rotten Eggman, but he'll need help in fighting those robots!"

Tails nodded. "Okay, here we go!"

The engines started and the plane thundered ahead before taking off into the air. Cream watched as they flew towards the wreckage. "I hope they make it back safely…"

**...**

Eggman laughed evilly as his robots continued building. "Hahaha! Drill faster! Don't use too many nails or bolts! And make sure you water down the cement; I want these rides to be the most dangerous in the universe!"

Suddenly, a blue streak shot out from nowhere and cut through one of the metal towers. It fell to the ground with a crash.

Sonic jumped to the middle of the demolished metal. "Well, well."

The Doctor grinned evilly as he saw the hedgehog. "_He finally showed up, now the fun really begins._"

Eggman sneered. "You fell right into my trap, Sonic! I know you can't swim, so I lured you to the sea! Get him, Octoron!"

Two tentacles shot out of the metal beast. The blue hedgehog easily dodged them and jumped, preparing to kick the robot. He didn't see the third tentacle come out and reach for him until it was too late. It wrapped around his small frame and squeezed Sonic tightly.

The Doctor laughed as he watched Sonic struggle. "You won't get away."

"Oh, yeah! Just watch me!"

He tried his hardest, but Sonic couldn't get out of the robot's grasp. It dunked him under the surface of the water and held him for a few seconds.

Sierra couldn't watch this. "Let him go, Eggman!" she shouted terrified.

Eggman chuckled. "I'm giving Sonic a choice, Miss Edwards: forfeit the battle or forfeit his life!"

Sonic continued to resist the machine until it lifted him above the waves.

"Well, how do you like the ocean?" the Doctor asked mockingly.

The azure hedgehog spat some water out of his mouth before grinning. "It's delightful!"

"Good, then let's see how long you're able to stay under!"

Octoron lowered its tentacle again, but before it could dunk him, Sonic kicked his legs as fast as he could. He managed to make it back to the pier and kept running his full speed. The robot just wouldn't let go!

Eggman hovered next to the robot's head. "Don't let Sonic slip out of your grip, Octoron! Haul that hedgehog back into the ocean and don't let him up for air!"

Sonic kept running as Octoron moved its legs into the water; beginning to drag him in.

"Come on, Octoron!" Eggman rooted his creation. "Flex those tentacles!"

Just then, a plane came into view as Amy and Tails arrived. The pink hedgehog watched her hero being pulled in. "Sonic…"

Thinking quickly, she opened the cockpit and jumped out. "Amy, wait!" Tails cried, but it was too late.

"Let him go!" She shouted as she plummeted towards the battle. Amy pulled out her hammer and prepared for an attack. Just before she hit the ground, she slammed the weapon onto the tentacle holding Sonic, releasing him as Octoron tumbled back in recoil.

"Ahh!" Eggman cried, "How could you!"

Amy stood defensively over the blue hedgehog as he untangled himself. "You keep your rotten robots away from Sonic or you're gonna be sorry!"

Sonic stood up and ran towards a broken rollercoaster track. "Thanks Amy!"

Sierra let out a breath, which she didn't knew she was holding in the first place. For a minute there she actually thought that the Doctor would kill Sonic...thank God he didn't.

Sonic ran up the side, jumping as soon as he reached the top, and saw the X-Tornado come close. "Hey, Sonic!" Tails shouted as he shot a ring from the airplane. Sonic reached out for the golden circle and grabbed it.

As soon as he did, he felt the power rushing through him as he charged up a spin dash. He aimed right at Octoron and shot forward, penetrating the robot's armor. The blue hedgehog began to bounce off of the inside walls, creating huge dents.

As Octoron began to sway, Sonic shot out of the metal mass. The robot sunk a few feet before exploding loudly. "Oh no!" Eggman shouted.

Sonic landed back in the wreckage. Amy ran forward and jumped at her hero before hugging him. "Sonic!"

"Ahh, lighten up, Amy! I'm fine!"

"This isn't over Sonic the Hedgehog! I'll be back!" Sonic looked up to see Eggman's pod retreating.

The blue hedgehog held the ecstatic girl at arms length, smiling. "Amy, what you did was crazy!"

She looked at him, eyes sparkling, with a dreamy smile on her face. "I know, but my body moved on its own."

While the two hedgehogs talked, Sierra looked around the half destroyed resort. Pieces of metal were scattered everywhere, plants were destroyed, buildings demolished...

She let out another sigh. She really wanted to sit down; her legs were barely holding her body. Everything happened so quickly, one minute she was greeting guests and the other she was standing face to face with the mad Doctor Eggman. Who could have thought that he would attack the sea resort of all places?

Suddenly a large rumbling shook the ground, causing Sierra's legs to give in and she fell to the ground. When she heard Amy scream, she looked up and saw a snake-like robot land in front of the two hedgehogs.

Sonic looked up to see Eggman in his pod, grinning evilly. "I told you I'd be back, Sonic!"

The hero looked up at the robot. "Well, that thing might be tall, but I bet it's not fast!" With that, Sonic ran in the opposite direction, hoping that the robot will follow him.

Eggman pointed at his nemesis. "After him, Serpenter! Get rid of that blue bozo."

Sierra looked over at Sonic, who was leading the monstrous robot away from Amy, and then turned her attention back to the pink hedgehog, who was just sitting on the ground, shocked and confused. Sierra slowly stood up, but suddenly froze in place. Another snake-like robot was coming towered Amy, and the hedgehog haven't noticed it yet!

Sierra couldn't scream, somehow she lost her voice from the shock that struck her. Without thinking, she ran towards Amy.

Everything happened so quickly afterwards. Sierra had managed to shout to Amy to get out of the way, but after that, all she felt was how the air was knocked out of her lungs and she hit the water with a big splash, sinking like a rock to the bottom of the sea.

"Sierra!" Amy shouted in distress after the girl had pushed her out of the way, and got hit instead.

Sonic could only watch in horror as Sierra disappeared under the water. Without a second's hesitation, the blue hedgehog dove towards where Sierra had gone under.

_She is in my bloodstream, tonight she's draining me  
The room is filled with reds and blues  
I follow as she leads into the darkness  
Drying up my veins, she's a ghost, a silhouette  
Calling out my name_

So close the door and lock it tight  
Then I will know you're safe tonight  
Turn on the song that means the most  
Believe I'm there and hold me close

Sierra wondered if the agony in her chest was caused by fear or lack of oxygen, and decided that either way it didn't really matter.

Sonic's voice broke around her, gentle and soothing, completely at odds with her racing heart and laboured breathing, lapping softly along her frayed nerves.

Willing herself to breathe, she slowly blinked. Why was she seeing him of all people? He's afraid of the water, so why does her mind show her him swimming towards her?

Sierra closed her eyes, what she thought was for the last time, and smiled slightly.

She supposed drowning in his eyes wouldn't be fatal.

_Close the door, lock it tight  
Then I'll know you're safe tonight  
Turn on a song that means the most  
Believe I'm there and hold me close_

She is in my bloodstream, tonight she's draining me  
The room is filled with reds and blues  
I follow as she leads into the darkness  
Drying up my veins, she's a ghost, a silhouette  
Calling out my name...

**...**

_The moon was shining brightly and the stars looked like pure diamonds in the pitch black sky. _

_Sierra stood in the middle of a field, which was completely covered with beautiful snow-white flowers. She had a feeling that she had seen this place before. But when? _

_She looked above her at the beautiful diamond sky. It always made her feel better seeing the stars. She had no idea why, though. Maybe it was just because they gave her a sense of someone there with her, a sense of not being alone._

"_The night is beautiful, don't you agree?" came a soft voice somewhere behind Sierra. _

"_Yes, it is." She answered. She didn't turn to look, who was there with her. _

_Sierra knelt down and picked one white flower. She then felt how those white flowers were put into her hair. _

"_There, they look good on you." said the person behind her. Sierra didn't say anything. She just continued to look at the flower in her hand. _

"_You know, standing here tonight, in this field, makes you feel like you're dreaming…." _

_A light breeze blew by, lifting some of the flower petals into the air. _

"…_.somehow I know that we can't wake again from this dream….it's not real, but it's ours…." _

"_...Maybe tonight, we'll fly so far away," Eyes wide, Sierra continued the song. She knew the words; she was the one who wrote this song three months ago, due to the dream she had! _

"_...We'll be lost before the dawn." she finished. _

_She stood up slowly, and turned…._

"_It was you." She whispered in shock._

_There, standing in front of her was none other than Sonic the Hedgehog. _

"_It was you," she repeated. "You were here with me before."_

_Sonic smiled and held out a beautiful pink lily to her._

"_Wake up, Sierra...open your eyes..." _

**...**

Sierra opened her eyes slowly. Disoriented, she blinked twice. Everything was blurry. The only thing she saw was a mass of white and blue colours in front of her.

Amy sighed in relief and smiled at her friend, when she saw her open her eyes.

"Everything is alright, you're safe now, Sierra." Amy said softly.

Sierra turned towards, where she thought was Amy, and tried to sit up, but instantly fell back down, due to the sharp pain that went through her body.

"W-what h-happened?" she asked in a weak voice. She couldn't remember what happened after she saw the robot coming at Amy. Did that robot attack her, or did something ells happened?

"You were knocked into the water by Eggman's robot," Amy said, in the same soft and comforting voice. "You almost drowned...Sonic saved you."

After hearing this, Sierra sat up, ignoring the sharp pain that came afterwards. She looked at Amy with a disbelieved expression written all over her face.

"**Sonic**, saved **me**, from **drowning**?" she repeated, while giving Amy the same dumbfounded face. Amy nodded and turned to the large window in the room. The room that Sierra recognised was inside the Edwards villa.

"I...I don't know what happened, the minute you fell into the water, Sonic instantly went after you, ignoring his fear of water." Amy muttered softly, while looking at the sea, through the window. "Me and Tails then helped pull the two of you out."

"He saved me..." Sierra murmured. She couldn't believe this. The hedgehog was terrified of the water, he usually didn't even go near it, and here Amy is telling her that he actually saved her from drowning. This was just so hard to believe, and the migraine that she received from being knocked out, didn't help the matter.

"He cares about you," Amy's voice brought the troubled girl back to reality. She turned to the pink hedgehog, which was still facing the window.

"Earlier today, Sonic told me that because of his fear of water, he wouldn't go near it for anything," Amy told the girl. "and yet...he jumped in after you, ignoring his fear."

Nothing was said after that. Sierra couldn't manage to form words anymore. What could she say to that? Even after Amy left the room to give the girl some peace and quiet, one question didn't leave Sierra's mind for the rest of the evening...

Why did he save me?

**... **

The starry night shown over the hill top. The stars twinkling gazes focused upon the still form of a blue hedgehog.

Sonic was lying there at peace in the soft turf. The only sounds came from the crashing waves, from the sea nearby, soothing him with the calming melody. Playing with a small shell, which he found by the shore, the hedgehog was in deep thoughts.

Never would he have imagined that he would one day forget his fear of water and actually dive in and save someone, and a human at that, who was bigger and heavier that him.

But he did it, he saved them both...

He tossed the small shell into the air and then caught it, repeating the same action over and over again.

So many things had happened during their visit here, on this planet. He and his team managed to destroy Eggman's base, become heroes to the humans rather than aliens from another planet and found two of the seven Emeralds, the yellow one from Eggman's base and the red one from Hawk. Not to mention that they already had two of the seven Chaos Guardians.

Sonic wont judge his friend, but somehow he got a feeling that Knuckles didn't tell him everything about that day when they went to get the red Chaos Emerald from Hawk. He left something out...but what?

Though, one question did surprise him...

"_Did Sierra ever talk about the Chaos Emeralds with you?"Knuckles asked_.

"_No, never...why?"_

_There was a short silence before Knuckles answered._

"_...Nevermind, just wondering."_

What could that mean? Did Sierra know something they didn't? But that would be silly. How could a human know anything about the Chaos Emeralds, when they, the supposed protectors, didn't know much about the nature of the mysterious gems?

Sonic sighed and stood up. He would have to have a talk with the girl, whenever she likes it or not. He admired her stubborn character, but even he had limits.

And besides, maybe she will even tell him about her 'little secret' that she had been hiding only God know for how long. Though, it was amusing to look at her blushing face, when he once asked her where did the blue rose came from, which was still standing beautifully on her dresser.

**

* * *

**

**A/N: **Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was fun to write.

I changed a few things, you probably noticed, like the all Team actually living together (plus Wave the Swallow) but one thing; she doesn't know Jet and Storm, yet.

The lyrics belong toHawthorne Heights - **Dead In the Water**

Anyway, I hope you liked it! I tried to get it as big a chapter as I could. I want to sincerely thank the people who reviewed for the past couple of chapters. Really, you are the guys that make these chapters happen. Your inputs are all very helpful to me.

I'd love to hear more from you. But for now, have a nice day!

With love, Amethyst


	17. Our Lady of Sorrows

**A/N: **Sorry its been a short while, I had more trouble hashing out this chapter than the last. It's the moment you all been waiting for, a little Sonic and Sierra moment!

Also, a quick request. REVIEWS. I heartily appreciate the lovely reviews I receive, but with all the hits I'm getting, I should have more. So please, reveiw. Drop a line. It helps.

Enjoy.

Love, Amethyst

* * *

The colourful lights were shining brightly, as Sierra made her way towards the stage. Another night, another concert...

A week had passed after the accident at Emerald Coast. As soon as Sierra felt she was ready to leave the house, she had ordered for Jack to arrange a concert as soon as possible. She had wasted enough time already; it was time to drown herself in her favourite activity. Singing...

In a few minutes the concert will start. Sierra took one last look in the mirror, before going on stage. Her long blond wig lay straight against her back, while a few black stripes were curled up. A simple short black dress gave her an elegant look, while the black and white gloves, shoes and choker made her look more doll-like.

The crowd cheered loudly as she came into their view. The adrenalin was pumping through her veins, she felt happy, excited, and free...

**Open your shiny eyes in the silent night  
On a mysterious night, I landed  
Without my footsteps making a sound, I creep up to you  
In the pose of an alluring black cat**

**With the moonlight to my back, a silhouette appears  
"Come over here," it smiles and beckons**

**The shadow of desire wanders in a stirring town  
In the guise of an angel  
Carefully holding  
Pieces of love that have nowhere to go**

When I fall asleep, are you also  
Having a blissful dream somewhere?  
Kissing the starry sky, the good kids are already off to bed

Don't stare at, don't catch  
The butterfly that got lost  
Wings that sing of freedom and no one can see-  
You're hiding them deep in your chest

The visage in the mirror  
Is from back when I was a crybaby  
But I'm not a kid anymore  
I untied my hair that I grew out

A sweet fragrance tightly squeezes my chest  
Luring me, noticing me  
It cast magic on lips that had lost their words

Don't stare at, don't catch  
The butterfly that got lost  
It's too beloved, it's too precious  
So the key to my heart broke

I'll keep on searching for my own story  
Even if I'm blindfolded by fate  
I'll pierce through these clouds and fly to the distant tomorrow

Don't stare at, don't catch  
The butterfly that got lost  
Invisible wings that are clad in wishes and take off-

When the concert ended, Sierra's personal driver took her home. It was past eleven o'clock; everyone in the house was already asleep, so no one will notice her strolling through the back yard. Not like anyone noticed yet. Only Greg came close, but even then he thought that she was only having a night snack in the kitchen and nothing more. Sierra was more worried about Sonic, than her grandfather, because the hedgehog always slept on the roof above her room, and he had a bird's eye view on the back yard. Was she lucky for not being caught by his burning gaze so far? Probably...

Speaking of Sonic, after the accident she haven't seen him much. He was off on a run by the time she climbed out of bed, and would only return late at night. She didn't question his friends about his behaviour; she guessed it was a normal thing for him. He was a free spirit after all.

Freedom...

The one thing she craved the most, the one thing she knew she will never have. She was a caged bird, locked away never to feel the pleasure of freedom in her gray life. She knew that with time, she will have to fallow her parent's orders. She will be told where to study, where to live, who to become and so on...

Sierra sighed and looked at her reflection in the car window. Dull blue eyes stared back at her; eyelashes heavy and painted black plus the silver eyeshadow. Pink-rouged cheeks, for the misleading look of a young girl's modest blush, pursed lips with the remnants of pink lip-gloss. Her chocolate hair gathered in a dark black ribbon and pulled to the side to fall over one shoulder in a mass of perfumed and perfect curls. She looked like a nice little doll, except for her dead eyes, which could have shined a bright sapphire colour if not for her suffocating life which took the shiny spark away.

Her reflection showed what she was, not who she was. The answer to _who_ she was, was locked away where she could never find it, where she would never look. She knew who she had been, a small, innocent naive child. And that girl had been destroyed.

Upon reaching her house, Sierra took her old path, through the back yard and into the kitchen. Removing her high heels, she quietly made her way towards her room. She was tired, more than ever. It felt as if she was dragging a heavy chain all day long and she just couldn't wait to rip it of herself.

Closing her bedroom door behind her, she tossed her shoes somewhere in the corner not bothering to look where. She was too tired to care at the moment.

"My, you sure work late."

Sierra almost jumped out of her skin after hearing someone's voice. She quickly spun around and was shocked when she saw Sonic the hedgehog standing by the balcony door. What was the hedgehog doing in her room in the middle of the night?

"What are you doing here?" She lashed out without thinking, what she only assumed was a _fetching_ snarl gracing her face. He seemed surprised for only a moment at her outburst and cleared his throat.

"I came to talk to you, you weren't here, so I decided to wait until you return from your work." He said simply. Sierra stood frozen by the door. Talk, what did he want to talk about with her, and what about this '_work_' he mentioned?

"What do you want to talk about?" she heard her words and almost succeeded in surprising herself at the outright bitchiness. Almost. Damn she was too tired to have a night conversation with him right now. From where she was standing, she saw a sly smile appear on his face, which gave her the hint that this was going to be one rough night.

"About you." He answered.

"What about me?" She hissed savagely, her eyes as dark as he'd ever seen them. The young girl looked so tense in his presence. She seemed to be made of steal. There was no warmth in her. No vivacity. Just coldness.

"I want to hear about your past," Sonic replied, ignoring the ice look that Sierra was giving him.

"About my past?" she repeated in disbelieve. "You already know enough about my past, if you have more questions, then I suggest you go to Greg." She answered sardonically, tapping her nails against the wooden door, hardly giving him any encouragement.

"I want to listen to your side of the story." He said calmly. She didn't understand his interest. Why did it bother him so much? Didn't know why he bothered to stay here, with her, in the middle of the night asking stupid things that are best left forgotten.

"And what if I refuse to tell you," She couldn't stop the words that came out of her mouth; she'd just been so conditioned to quick, protective remarks that hid everything. Sonic let out a heavy sigh and shook his head in slight irritation.

"I think you owe me at least that much, _Selen._" he answered equally, his voice patronizing, eyes looked on her. His gaze was unnerving. Like he was peeling away her skin and staring into the depths of her shredded soul.

A dreadful and cold feeling went through her body. Selen...how did he know about Selen? Who told him, how did he found out? Million questions ran through her mind, making her head spin. Her eyes went from one side to the other, while her mind helplessly tried to form some kind of reply.

"I found out myself," Sonic saved her from answering. "It wasn't hard to guess; same voice, same face, only the hair is different, which, may I say, suits you very much." he exclaimed.

Sierra sighed and walked over to her bed. Her anger melted away and only the cold emptiness remained. She sat down and put her face in her hands, shaking her head lightly. She wanted to push him away; she had to have him out of this room, but something in his uncharacteristic concern stopped her from chucking the nearest heavy object at him. It was impossible to run away from him, she knew that now, he would still chase after her, for God knows how long, until she finally cracks under the pressure and gives up.

She was done running. She was tired, oh so tired from it all. All she needed was a loyal friend who would shoulder all her pain and misery. Who would take it all away and finally fix that broken toy box which she calls her life.

Sonic the hedgehog had finally caught her...

"What do you like to know?" she asked quietly.

"Tell me everything...I'm here to listen."

It surprised her how soft and smooth his voice was at the moment. It gave her hysterical soul a calm and warm feeling, which she haven't felt in a while. She loved it...

"You probably already noticed that I'm not very close with my family. My mom; she is a good person, but she's a terrible mother. She never cooked for me, we never had our mother and daughter talks, like others do, she never knew what I liked and disliked, what were my hobbies, who were my friends, she didn't know anything about me, her own child...and my dad...I'll say simply. I hate him. Like my mother, he didn't know anything about me, but the worst part was, he always abused me..."

Sierra stopped for a moment and looked towards Sonic. His eyes were wide, obviously in disbelieve at the small information she had just given him, but this was only the beginning in her book, there was more to come.

"...everytime he returned home, he would hit me, for disobeying him, for being useless, for being weak... I never heard any sweet words from him, only insults. My mom never believed me when I told her about the abuse, she only said that I probably did something bad and dad had to punish me. Even to this day I sometimes have nightmares about him..."

"...Greg was never around, actually he only moved here three years ago. He used to live in a small apartment near his laboratory and only visited us on holidays. I was always alone, with only the nanny to look after me. No friends, no family, only broken dreams of a broken little girl."

Neither one of them spoke. Sierra was rather curious to hear his opinion on her childhood, but when she was met with nothing but silence she continued her story.

"...Years later, with Greg's help, I was put into a normal school and not one of those private schools for rich kids. I actually thought that going to a normal school will give me the chance of experiencing a normal life. I was wrong..."

She suddenly stopped. She felt a small sting of pain somewhere in her chest, a long forgotten feeling, one she thought she had abandoned years ago was slowly creeping towards the surface. Hurt and pain...

"...From the first day of school the kids didn't like me," she started, through gritted teeth. Her knuckles were white; she was gripping the sheets on both sides of her legs. "They thought I was a spoiled little brat from a rich and well known family. They didn't want to be my friends. That's when another piece of my childhood broke..."

"...Everything stayed the same for four years, and then it suddenly changed. Miraculously, I became really famous at school. Everybody wanted to be my friend, but later I found out it was only because of the fame, because of my name, of my wealth. That small incident reopened old wounds for me and I stopped trusting people all together. I grew depressed, I didn't talk much and if I did, it was usually an insult that came out of my mouth. To shake off the depression, I began writing songs. It helped me at first, but later I had an explainable desire to sing them. That's when I went to a music school and starter to sing, I was really good at it too. That's when _Selen_ was born. I become very popular, more popular than my mother, and I didn't tell anyone about my new singing career. Not like there was anyone to tell, but I even kept it from my parents, because I knew they would ruin everything for me if I told them, so I kept it to myself...The music school was also the place where I met Elora, she played the piano there. She was the _only_ person who knew about _Selen_ and who tried to understand and help me, and for that I will be forever grateful to her..."

Memories surfaced and images swam before her eyes and she swallowed hard, clenching her teeth. She didn't want to relive them now. Not now, not in front of _him_!

Words, anguish, fighting. Precious illusions.

She just wanted it to stop. Suddenly, she just wanted to close her eyes and get rid of it all. She wanted to scream. Strangely enough, for the first time in her young miserable life, she wanted to cry. _Sonic._

This was what he was doing to her.

"It hurts," she whispered quietly, her voice barely steady. "It hurts to live like this every day."

"Sierra," he said softly. Her eyes fluttered weakly and he sat down on the bed near her and pulled her against him, snaking his arm around her shoulders. Her body, so warm and fragile to him, was stiff in his arms, but she didn't pull back. He didn't know if she was too surprised to react by his movement, but he could feel the intense coil of everyone of her muscles beneath her skin, clenched tight and rigid. She made a soft choking noise in the back of her throat and her head collapsed against his shoulder, her forehead nestled at his neck.

"Sier," he coaxed softly, with an underlying hint of warning to his quiet tone. He could feel it in her muscles; he wanted her to break. It was the rarest of feelings, Sonic the hedgehog _wanting_ a girl to cry. But she needed this. And he…he needed it too, in a way. Anything that made her stop.

"Make it stop," her voice broke at the end, fragile already, in a flood of raw emotion she'd kept chained tight in some dark recess of her mind. Her crying was harsh, violent, though he could feel her holding back. She was still afraid of him or herself or her demons—whatever was poisoning her nightmares. He knotted his fingers tighter in her hair and rested his chin on the crown of her head, closing his eyes.

Sierra mumbled something, her voice blurred completely by tears, words unintelligible. He caught a word or two, unconnected thoughts, remembering the past no doubt, from the feel of it. He didn't ask her to elaborate. Instinct, perhaps, or inability to open his mouth and say something that wouldn't sound utterly wrong, or maybe because he knew, if she was anything like him, she would despise a reminder of her weakness.

But she was going to talk. He resolved that, he was determined, they had all night, and she was not leaving this room until she gave him some inkling of the dark shadow in her. The key to the shell she'd become. The closer he was to this constant, hardened pain of hers, the more he hated to see her suffer. She was suffering. She confirmed that now, willingly or not, as she—for lack of better description—fell apart in his arms.

She tried to take a deep breath, but she was prevented by another rush of tears mid-intake, and tried to bring up her arm to block her face. Sonic firmly knocked it out of the way and nudged her face up. He ran his thumb under her eyes, streaking her already smudged make-up across her face. Her red-rimmed eyes looked defeated, disgusted, misty with so many things. Her eyelashes, wet and heavy, blinked slowly, trying to hide her eyes. He pushed her hair back, dragging his fingers through it, avoiding the knots while he framed it back around her face. "Hush now." He commanded softly, not in any way suggesting that he was annoyed by her weeping.

She lifted her chin and looked towards the balcony door, still refusing to look at him. She was still getting herself in hand, still trying to stop the tears and the trembling and he knew she was already trying to harden herself again, and subsequently failing.

"I need to tell you...something important," she tried to pronounce the words right. "About the Chaos Emeralds." Tears, tears again that welled up and she did a commendable job of not letting fall.

Sonic suddenly remembered Knuckles'words. So she was keeping something from them.

"What about them?" he said softly, running more hair through his fingers.

She turned her head, looking at the dresser across the room, before letting her head shift to focus on him. Her voice was soft and measured in the silence as she spoke.

"The day I found the Green Chaos Emerald, something strange happened," Her make-up was smeared from the crying, and her thick curls strewn around her in a chaotic tangle, but she was so striking, sitting there, her eyes so piercing. "The moment I touched the gem I saw a vision, and that continued with every emerald that I touched."

"What did you see?" he asked, tilting his head at her. This fact was new to him. Never he, or his friends, saw any visions when touching the Chaos Emeralds. So, why did Sierra did?

"When I touched the Green Emerald, I saw a lab of some sort, people dressed in white coats, a tank filled with green liquid, something was inside but I couldn't see what, and two figures sitting by a giant window looking at the black sky. The first vision was really blurry, I only saw small fragments, almost no details were seen."

She stopped for a moment and looked towards the quiet hedgehog. His face was calm, but she could see that he was thinking hard on the subject about the Chaos Emeralds. When she felt him squeeze her shoulder gently she continued speaking.

"The second vision I had, was when I touched the Cyan Emerald. I saw a child running from a burning house, and then living on the streets after losing her family and home. Again I didn't saw any faces, but I heard a female voice, it said: '_Let the people know about me. Let them know that I, am not to be tempered with_. _Whatever I want, I get. Because no one has ever been through what I've been through!_'"

"...The third vision was more like a dream. I didn't touch a Chaos Emerald, but the Red gem was in the next room with Knuckles. I saw a rose garden, from the centre of the magnificent garden, was a table. A girl was there, dressed in white. The seven Chaos Emeralds were lying on the table with seven colourful roses. Each time she picked up a rose, she said a name. When she held a blue rose, she said your name; the yellow rose was Miles, the red one: Knuckles, the cyan: Rouge and the purple: Blaze. When she said the other two names, I couldn't hear them. I could only see her lips moving, with no words coming out. After a few minutes she said: '_In order for peace to continue, the seven Guardians must reunite once again._' Then a strong wind blew through the garden, carrying millions of different flowers on its way. The flowers flew above the rose formation, on the table, and then dropped gently to the ground, with only one flower landing on the table; a pink lily..."

"...For some reason she was really happy when she saw that lily. Her last words were: '_You will be the chain, who will bound everyone together, you will be the light next to their darkness and the undying flame for their love.'_" I woke up after that."

Sierra thought if she should tell him about her last dream, the dream about her and him. Maybe it was important just like the visions; maybe it meant something as well. Taking a deep breath, she continued.

"A week ago, when you saved me, I had a dream with you and me, together in a flower field. In my dream, you gave me the same pink lily, which was on the table, with that girl in white." She decided not to tell him that it was the second time when she had that dream, and the part when he put flowers in her hair, saying how nice she looked.

There was a deadly silence after she finished talking. That was understandable. She had just finished telling him things that he probably never thought could happen to someone.

"Yes, I know, it all sounds like one big messed up fairytale," she started cynically, grimacing at him. "I guess my unstable mind has a sick way of entertaining me." she muttered, almost to herself it was so quiet.

Sonic sat there torn between triumph at the final release of her torment and the impact of her words. He didn't know that she had so much pain inside her, so much angst. He held onto her tightly, every reeling emotion in her body almost tangible in the tightened muscles of his arms. His teeth were clenched tightly, so that they hurt his jaw, as he comprehended every stinging word that came out of her mouth tonight.

"You are _not _insane, Sierra, and you are far from weak!" he said sternly.

"_You_ don't know that." She moaned, shaking her head against his shoulder. She lifted her head and looked at him, eyes red and flooded, her make-up all but gone now, and her colour as pale as white silk. He put his hand on her cheek and tightened the grip, tangling his fingers in the strands of hair falling over her ear and the side of her face.

"Yes I _do_." He said sharply, reprimanding her. She shook her head and looked to the ceiling, her emotion no longer hidden from him, it all showed in her eyes and she was all heartbreak and despair and she painted the most despairing picture in the world; all he wanted to do was take the pain and bear it on his own shoulders—he'd done this before, he'd taken injury like this before. But why her? She didn't deserve this.

"Sonic," his name sounded so weak coming from her. This wasn't the strong Sierra, who never showed her fear in front of Eggman and was always there to help his friends. This was a broken porcelain doll he held in his arms tonight. A beautiful broken doll...

Sonic looked down at her. Her eyes were closed, breathing softly. Good she fell asleep. He still had questions for her, but it could wait, right now the girl needed rest.

With a heavy sigh, he put his head on top of hers, closing his eyes for a moment.

It felt like he just saw everything Sierra had been trying to hide.


	18. Fix You

**A/N: **Well, well, it's been a long time, hasn't it? I apologize for the long delay…. Alright, I know it took me forever to update. It happens to the best of us. I just hope you enjoy reading this update. I was stuck on it for _months, _and I'm sad to say, but I am stuck on what to do next. Honestly, don't know where to continue, or what to continue. If you have any ideas, please share them, or I won't update for another three or four months. (I hope that won't happen again o_O)

Hope this chapter turned out ok...

Anyway, thank you for all your reviews, thank you all! I really like knowing what you're all thinking. Thank you **KekoBean13 **for that lovely poem! (It's awesome, just what I needed!)

By the way, I suggest you listen to the song: **Don't Turn Away by Elliott Yamin **while reading this chapter.

**P.S. **You have no idea how I missed you all ;]

With love, Amethyst

* * *

_Maybe I love you was too much  
Cause now it feels like we're out of touch  
And maybe this was all a big mistake  
Cause I don't know how to take you  
_

_For your heart it's the chance I'd rather take  
Please forgive me if I cannot hide what I feel  
I'm just trying to make you believe that I'm real_

The whole house was in perpetual silence, void of all indications of life. Only soft footsteps echoed in the still house as Sonic the hedgehog explored the empty halls inside the Edwards Manor. Everyone left the house, early in the morning, to go shopping, leaving the blue hedgehog home with Miss Edwards.

With everyone gone for the day, this gave the hedgehog ample time to brood over the maddening mood-swings of his tempestuous friend.

Sierra Katelyn Edwards….

For no other reason than he, at the beginning, at the first, at the point where it all began with his epic fall into the water and the dramatic staging of her rescuing him, he had seen what they had all been blind to. That she was smart, clever beyond their _imaginations, _a leader, a taker, powerful and passionate. She, who had never been trained to fight, found the Green Chaos Emerald, saved Amy from Eggman's robot, saved _him, _helped him and Tails build the X-Tornado, and all but saved them all. For where would they be if she hadn't been the one to shuttle back and forth, silently alerting them about the approaching threat?

She thought he looked at her as a prissy, spoiled, sophisticated girl who will only bring them tons of trouble but there had not been a moment when he thought like that. He had always seen fire where her family had seen water. He had always seen steel where others had seen putty. She had been one of the few people he'd happened upon in a life so crazy and a world so chaotically insane who said _I am a person._

_This _was why he cared. _This_ was why he found her special and _this_ was why he nettled her and harassed her until he cracked her. And now there was the initial split, the first working of the wedge into the cold stone, and all that remained was the chiseling and the sanding until he could rip away dull steel and reveal the iridescence underneath. She was Miss Edwards, the daughter of a well-known family; she was Selen, the world famous and glorious singer, but who she _was_ really, behind that over-bred nonsense, was _Sierra. _

In Spanish, the name Sierra means- mountain. A strong name. Dark and heavenly at the same time….

They, the humans, had all been too oblivious to her. He had seen how her mother and her grandfather had treated her. With good cheer, my dear, but as a wilful child who simply needed to be told what was wrong and what was right—when in reality, Sierra's eyes were always glinting with some other idea, some thought far off, a step ahead of everyone else.

And it was almost _gone_ now. How can her family be this blind and fail to see what an amazing daughter they have. How can someone be _this_ stupid. Unless, there was a reason for all of this….

Turning the corner the blue animal suddenly halted, his emerald orbs attracted to a door at the far end of the hall. The door that was always _always _closed….was now open. He felt his feet unconsciously move towards it, ignoring the small voice that said not to pry.

The sun was shining through the giant windows, filling the small room with warm light. Sonic entered the room silently and looked around. The small room was filled with all kinds of music equipment: a keyboard, guitar, microphone, CD Player, even a beautiful white piano was put in there. Walking further into the room Sonic found a few CD laying around on the floor and on the couch. Some of them belong to Jenifer Lovett, Sierras mother, and some were her own. The big wooden table in the centre was all covered in papers, notes and books. Walking over Sonic observed the notes, songs which were all familiar to him were written on the paper.

"So, this is where Sierra works her magic," He picked up a few notes and read them over. While reading, something shiny caught his eye. Putting the notes away, he dug through the mountain of papers on the table and pulled out a beautiful looking book.

"Mmm, what's this?" he thought aloud. The book was a sparkling silver color with a blue fake gem in the middle. Curious as to what could be inside this lovely book, Sonic peeked inside…..

"….This is…"

On the first page, written in black, were the words: _The Diary of a Broken Doll…_

Sonic opened his mouth, then closed it again. This was a diary, _Sierra's _diary. He should probably put it away where he found it, but this could be a chance for him to get to know the girl a little better, and every little information on Sierra was as good as gold to the hedgehog. Walking over to the couch, Sonic sat down and opened the first few pages in the diary...

_October__ 10, __2001_

_Every day I spent in school over the next few weeks was terrifying._ _I hate those kids. I hate them! It's not my fault that my family is so famous. They're all just jealous! It has nothing to do with me, so why do they hate me some much, why? _

_At first, I was reluctant not to go to school.__ That would mean that those kids, those brats, had won! But they won a long time ago, didn't they? _

…_._

_I thought this day will never end__. _

_At first, I wandered, catching a bus here and there, riding around until I felt like the bus driver was watching me too closely, and got off. I'd then walk until I got to the next bus stop and climb aboard, all the time thinking way to much, and breathing way too fast. My mind flitted form where I was going to how long I would be there, to whether or not I'd go home. I'd never considered running away before, but right now... it all felt so hopeless. I hated this __city. I hated the people in it. I hated everything!_

_I stepped off a bus and found myself at the front gates of Central Park. Not knowing exactly what I was doing, I wandered slowly through the park, taking random paths and turning at random times, as if I was trying to shake someone off of my trail. The park was like a maze that I was purposely trying to lose myself in. The trees seemed to call to me, and I wanted nothing more than to stay there and never leave, never have to go home._

_December 25, 2001_

_I spend every Christmas day__ alone in my room, __peering out into the mysteriously dark world through my balcony window. Everything is quiet during my Christmas days__, because everyone is away for some unexplainable reason. _

_Chrismtas day-a time for family together-ness._

_Ha!_

_No, Christmas day at the Edwards Manor is unpleasant, and cold, at best. My father tends to be particularly pissy on Christmas, and my mother always hides out in one of the fifteen rooms in this god forsaken home._

_When I was younger, I remember having Christmas. With a loving family, in a cozy house, next to a big tree. I had Christmas, just like all my friends. I've cherished those early memories as I would a kitten. Sadly, I know all they are, are memories._

_When I was five years old, I remember having Christmas, just like my friends. My mum and dad would have all their friends over to visit us and open gifts with us. The dining room table was always filled up, the chairs, and the table, with huge plates, always shining gold. And the air always rang of laugher, and always smelt of really good things._

_I was having fun._

_Sometimes I dream I'm doing it again._

_Maybe next year I'll ask you if we'll be having a party, and hope that you say yes._

_But until then._

_I'll hide out in my room on Christmas day, watching the mysterious white world from two stories up. Wondering about all the families who love each other, and show it on Christmas day. _

_January 7, 2002_

_I __hate my birthday. Things always seem to go wrong on January 7._

_I've always hated birthdays. I__t always coincided with returning to school, which, as you can imagine, I resented greatly. Everyone was always so busy with the start of school after New Year that my birthday was forgotten. Seeing as the kids at school think of me as a spoiled little princess, I don't have any friends to share my birthday with. I would celebrate with my family, but they would normally be too busy for even their only daughter's birthday._

_Birthdays __became just reminders that I was another year older, wiser, and maybe even prettier. _

_Of course, what were even worse were the birthdays I spent alone.__ I mean entirely alone. Like now…_

_Anyway, today has just confirmed what I've always known. Birthdays suck. And with as much irony as it deserves, there's only one thing left to say_

_Happy birthday, __Sierra__._

Sonic stopped reading to think for a moment. Could the girls' life be even more of a tragedy? The child didn't do anything wrong to deserve such a treatment from her family. Sonic himself couldn't understand their behavior towards their own daughter. Humans really are strange creatures, and they call Sonic and his kind animals. Which one of them are really animals?

Sonic opened the last few pages and continued to read.

_March 5, 2004_

_Me and Tails have just finished our new plane, the X-Tornado. Its awesome, a silver jet plane, strong and fast, just what we needed to stop Eggmans robot. I'm surprised that I'm saying this, but I enjoyed the time when we were building the new Tornado. Me and Tails talked through the night, he told me about his adventures, about his __home planet, Mobius, about the mansion where the whole Sonic Team lives, it all sounds so wonderful and unbelievable. Just like a fairytale…._

_I like Tails, very much actually. Who wouldn't? He's such a sweet kid, it's impossible not to love him. He's one of a kind…Just like little Cream. Cute and lovable. They're both so wonderful, in many ways that I can't describe in simple words…_

_Amy __is somewhat of an __"optimistic tomboy" mixed with a "glamorous Barbie doll"__,_ _interest in shopping and fashion_, _while still keeping that tomboyish nature around herself and using it when needed.__ She would have made a wonderful best friend…._

_Knuckles is __a great friend even if he constantly denies it. He's always so calm and collected, strong and protective…. His calm nature is what makes me feel so safe and comfortable around him. Sure he can get mad, furious even, over small and pointless things, but it never once bothered, or irritated me like it usually does with other people around me. _

_I feel like my thoughts and dark secrets would be safe with him…. _

_I don't know much about Rouge the bat; because the day we first met, I was kind of….not myself. The energy from the Red Chaos Emerald left me __feeling exhausted, knotted up like an old piece of wire twisted one too many times. I wasn't in __**any **__shape to go meet someone. A few days later, I still felt groggy and anxious even after ten solid hours of unconsciousness._

_Now Sonic, I really don't know what to make of him. Every time I see him, it's like he says "__the feelings that you hide  
Gonna tear you up inside." I, of course, know that and I still do things my way. I don't know why, I just do…._

_May 15, 2004_

_That hedgehog is unbelievable. He just doesn't give up, does he? But do I want him to? Probably not. Somehow I believe that he is the only one who could really help me, who could __**really**__ understand me. So why don't I ask for his help, why do I wait for him to make the first move? Every day I keep asking myself that and every day I have no answer to give. Maybe I want to see that he truly cares about my problems and he sincerely wants to help me. That's probably the main reason why I always get on his nerve. I want him to show me that he cares, truly cares. _

_I could say a lot good things about him, but I just can't find the right words to describe him. He's like the wind, a nice summer breeze that everyone craves in the hot summer, a hurricane that blows away all the bad things in your life and leaves a nice, warm and safe feeling inside. _

_I never knew someone like him could be real and not just a made up character from a fantasy book… _

_Like the wind, huh…_Sonic couldn't help but smile at Sierra's words. Of course he cares, he always cared, but he guessed that the girl just wanted to be sure before she could really open up to him. And that can be understandable, with a life like that she didn't had anyone to rely on, no one to trust.

No worries, now she has.

Sonic decided to stop reading, he had read enough already. Closing the diary, he went to put it back on the desk, when a piece of paper fell out of the book. He picked it up and noticed that it was an old picture of a little girl, with long brown hair and bright blue eyes, holding a beautiful doll clothed in red. The little girl was smiling brightly as she held the doll in her small hands, thousand of colorful flowers surrounded her, making her look like a little innocent angel. Sonic couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"Is that Sierra?" he turned the picture and his warm smile suddenly vanished. On the back, written in black ink, was a small poem….

_Lying in this dark abyss__…_

No-one cares I wont be missed

Echoes ringing like the toll

A beat up broken little doll

Putting the diary back on the desk, he quickly left the music room taking the picture with him. Enough, it was time to stop all this pointless cat and mouse games. Let him be damned if he lets _this_ continue any longer.

_Don't turn away when I'm right here waiting  
Don't be afraid cause we both are changing  
If it's real it will be what it's suppose to be  
All I ask from you is please don't turn away from me  
Don't turn away__…  
_

…

Sierra found herself sitting in the garden. Roses around her would have made her feel like a queen in most circumstances, but now she felt like a used piece on a chess board…

Sierra bit down on her lip and squeezed her eyes together. She didn't want to see the world around her, not now. She didn't want to see anything.

She had always wanted to meet someone like Sonic. To hear a voice so confident and strong, even if it was a vision of just her, sitting alone in a room or standing in the rain and just letting the ice cold water penetrate her skin….just because of him. It always had something to do with him and she couldn't stop it and she hated it but she loved it, _loved it, _whatever it was,though it was nonsensical in its insanity. But she didn't want to face him today; she didn't want to _remember_…not now.

It was this astonishing fact that baffled her as to why she'd fallen to utter pieces last night. Why had she let herself crack, get vulnerable, why had she told him what she'd told him? Wasn't that just confirmation of everything she'd been trying to deny all these abysmal months? She'd done the one thing she'd sworn she would _never_ do again. She'd lost her footing, yielded ground, and given the opponent ammunition. She'd let Sonic the Hedgehog pull the details of her failed life out of her head and told him everything she'd erased and blacked out…and there was no sane, earthly explanation why.

"Thinking dark thoughts again, aren't you?"

That voice…. She didn't need to open her eyes, she knew that voice all to well, because it was the only voice that had any power over her. The only voice she so desperately tries not to listen to!

"No." she murmured. God she was so tired, so drained out of energy, she didn't want to speak to him right now.

"How are you feeling?" Sonic asked in a soft voice.

"….Miserable," she murmured back. She could hear him sigh and make a few steps towards her.

"Alright, you and I are going for a run." That got her attention. Sierra opened her eyes and looked at the cobalt blue hedgehog, who was now standing right next to her.

"A run, you and me…how?" she just couldn't imagine their run.

With a sly smirk Sonic picked her up bridal style, earning a surprised yelp from the girl.

"Like this, now hold on tight," that was the only warning Sierra got before the hedgehog took off at full speed leaving behind a cloud of dust and dirt.

Sierra couldn't find the right words to describe how she felt at that moment. It felt…. simply amazing. Rushing through a strong gust of air made her feel wilder that the wind, and oh so free…

Sierra opened her eyes but everything was a blur to her. She didn't know where Sonic was going, and honestly, at that very moment, she didn't even care. Somehow she knew that he won't disappoint her.

_Maybe I should just give you your space  
But without you I feel so out of place  
The more I reach out to you  
It's like the further you go away  
I just want you to hear what I'm trying to say_

As they sped towards their undisclosed location, a growing sense of familiarity grew within Sierra. Not déjà vu, mind you – she had never taken this exact path, but she could recognize the area in general. If she could just remember when…

When Sierra felt the hedgehog slow down, she took a better look at the scenery around them and gasped. They were standing amidst boundless roses, roses of various forms of majesty, each having a unique scent, mixing harmoniously under her nostrils. She breathed her lungs and absorbed the heaven around her.

_The flower field from my dream…_

"Do you like it?" Sonic gently set her down.

"I love it," she couldn't find the right words to describe the majestic beauty all around them. Slowly she sat down and gently brushed her fingers over the silk flower petals.

"You know, I feel kind of bad not knowing more about you." She turned for a moment, saw his face betray a touch of frustration. Then he became reflective as he started toying with her long hair. "On the other hand… I do know about your flaming and wild side, your elegance –" he grinned as their eyes met "- your mysterious nature."

Sierra smiled back. They gazed at each other for several moments before she looked away, laughing softly. "What else do you want to know?"

Sonic stared at her and then suddenly asked. "What's your favorite color?"

Sierra raised an eyebrow at the strange question, but decided to answer it anyway. "The _colors_ of the Chaos Emeralds."

Sonic mimicked Sierra and raised his own eyebrow in amusement. He was expecting something of a typical '_blue, yellow, red…_' but he liked this answer better.

"Alright, what's your favorite flower?" Sonic said getting back on subject.

"A lily."

"Usually girls love roses." Sonic said with a sly smirk. The two locked eyes again, a small smile danced on Sierra's lips as she teased him with her sapphire gaze.

"Usually they do, but to me lilies speak louder than roses." There was a short silence between them before Sonic spoke again.

"Last question, how….do you describe yourself?" Sonic's eyes danced a glint of something dangerous flaring deep in them, as if maybe hiding something more. Ah, so he had masks and walls to hide behind as well. Perhaps he took pleasure in the destruction of other's safe-holds? For the first time in months, Sierra could not interpret Sonic's facial expression. She was caught off guard, surprised, and yet happy that he decided to ask her this.

"I´m the kinda girl who´s something like a diamond cost a lot, and it´s hard to find one." She spoke after a second, her voice soft and playful at the same time. "If you wanna see my wild side, there are rules that apply…." She let this last sentence hang in the air, and checked for his response. Smirk wider, eyes slightly narrowed – she guessed he wasn't afraid of this small challenge.

"I'm a trained professional." He said, in the same mystic sort of way Sierra used on him before. Sonic's words slammed together in her head as she processed it. Tentatively, she inquired almost immediately.

"Then I'm to assume you know how?"

"Knew from the beginning."

She turned her **full** attention to him after that, her eyes sweeping over his profile. He didn't react to her looking for a moment, and then turned his own face to her, his eyes just as mischievous as hers. She felt vulnerable, penetrated. Again, like he was staring into her soul.

"I am not going to hurt you, Sier," he spoke softly, their silly game thrown to the side for the time being. "I am not the _one_ who hurt you."

Sonic walked over to her side and slowly wrapped his arms around the poor girl, enveloping her in a warm embrace.

"I know," she managed, nodding her head into his shoulder. The blinding light of the sun burst over them and Sierra relaxed, tearing her eyes away from the colourful flowers and thrusting them out over the horizon, beyond his shoulder. She felt safe, protected from all the evil that surrounded her in this sinful world. She moved her lips, couldn't find the sound of her voice.

Sonic held her tightly in his arms and whispered in her ear. "Will you allow me to help you?"

A few crystal tears rolled down her cheeks as she returned the warm embrace. "You already did," she whispered softly.

_You helped me more than you will ever realise__…._

_D__on't turn away cos i'm right here waiting  
Don't be afraid cos we both are changing  
If it's real it will be what it's suppose to be  
All I ask from you is please don't turn away from me  
please don't turn away…_


	19. Project Shadow

A/N:**Happy New Year! **Please accept this chapter as a gift from me ;D

This has been sitting in my comp, NEARLY finished... but yet again I've been forced to leave it, because of work, school, and damn laziness.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll be more than happy to hear your thoughts and feelings about it.~

Love you all!

P.S: **Starburst4106**I really love the HAPPY BUNNY! ;D

* * *

The moon gleamed through the dark night as small diamond spots pierced the sky. The gentle wind curled through the trees as if to comfort them. The cricket's high-pitched chirps sounded through out the black sky.

The wind in mere nanoseconds picked up to 50 miles per hour in a blur, before it was back to normal. A bird streaked the sky, in a daze from being rudely awakened by the strange wind. In the direction of the wind, was a large blinding light. Million colours blended together creating the massive fake sun which was reflected in the figures cool eyes; the only thing that was visible within the golden light.

Rushing past the trees the figure sliced past objects with millimetres to spare. Within a minute the figure was now at the edge of a small cliff. Eyes scanned the area before taking off once again, leaving a silence streaked behind.

'_Click'_

The figure stopped without hesitation or any sliding at the same second the click sounded.

_'Shick'_

'_Click'_

An ear twitched and a quick 'thud' was heard. The figure jumped back from the fallen military body. A small pool of blood formed around the fallen male, the dark gray eyes frozen in death. The figure walked back toward the body, a look of disgust flashed in their deeps.

The cool eyes shot upward as a hawk streaked the sky. It let out a loud screech echoed in the darkness alerting the shadowy figure that someone was coming. With that action the hawk once again was slicing the sky without a sound, disappearing as quickly as it appeared in the dead of the night.

The figure jumped upward and continued its run. Seconds passed and a loud siren went off. Lights flashed everywhere, cutting through the thick blackness. Shouts were heard and heavy footstep's boomed into the forest like a stampede of wild animals.

"Hurry, close the gates, don't let that thing escape!"

Soldiers worked quickly once the command was given. The heavy iron gates began to close slowly, leaving the figure with a 10-second decision on what to do next.

**10**

"Damn," the figure swore vehemently.

**9**

The figure took off full speed towards the closing gates.

**8**

**7**

**6**

_Almost there…_

**5**

A cold smirk made its way to the figures face. _I'm going to make it…_

**4**

The wind picked up, furiously throwing everything out of its way.

**3**

The sound of bullets echoed in the background.

**2**

_I'm free…_

**1**

The figure slipped through the gates just before they closed. Frustrating cries and curses were heard behind the iron gates, as the soldiers were ordered to reopen the gates once again. A snort was heard before the figure took off, racing down the road, hopping to avoid the soldiers and any others coming to eliminate him.

Before leaving the island, the figure stopped and turned to look at the gray prison building in the distance. "Humans..."

With feral growling vibrating in its throat, a cold steely voice echoed in the darkness.

"You will all pay for what you've done to her."

…

"So, have you heard the news?"

"About what?"

"About the Chaos Emerald?"

Sierra stopped stirring her milkshake, startled out of her self-possession, with the unexpected turn of her friend. "About the Chaos Emerald?" she repeated incredulously. "What about it?"

Elora nodded. "Archeologists found the purple gem three days ago in some cave in Dragon Valley. They think it's the lost Emperors treasure or something. You should have seen how Knuckles was complaining about that. I thought my Mom was going to strangle him the way she kept glaring at him." Elora shook her head and stabbed at a few leaves of her cob salad with her fork. "You would think that after living with him for two months she would get used to his temper and his hot-headed personality."

Sierra blinked several times, distracted. "Oh, I've seen the news yesterday. Sonic wasn't too happy about that. Now that the gem is held in the Safe bank, Sonic and his friends can't take it."

"Knuckles suggested stealing it."

"Grandpa suggested the same thing. Sonic refused. He said he'll find another way."

Elora didn't appear convinced, but thankfully, she changed the subject. "So, how are things between you and Sonic? The two of you stopped lashing out at each other yet?"

Sierra sipped her milkshake, glad to have good news for once. "Actually, we get along great now. He takes me out on his runs almost every night."

"Really?" Elora brightened, clapping her hands together in delight.

"Yes." Sierra grinned, genuinely pleased to be making her friend's day. So little rarely made her smile, it was nice when she was able to put one on her face. Since Elora returned home, together with Knuckles, she and her mother started bickering over every little thing over and over again. Sierra guessed that Mrs. Ross was really upset and disappointed that her daughter decided to hide such a big secret about Knuckles and his friends from her. Before Knuckles came along, Mrs. Ross and Elora almost never argued, but now they just can't seem to agree on anything anymore.

Elora sat back in her seat, her smile became wider. "That is such a relief. What a load off my mind." Her eyebrows rose suddenly with the striking of thought. "I was really considering on taking the matter into my own hands…" whisper, "like talking with Sonic about your problems with your father and…."

"Freeze right there, Elora."

She finally seemed to get it, and reached over to pat her friend playfully on the cheek. "You should have listened to me from the very beginning. But I'm happy that you don't act like an ice bitch anymore. No offence."

"Geez, thanks ." Sierra rolled her eyes. "But, no, I deserve to be called that, if not worse. They're too nice to someone like me."

Elora conceded with a shrug, took the last bite of her lunch. She turned her wrist over and glanced at her watch. "I need to get going, Sier. I promised to spend the day with my Mom." She pushed back her chair and stood up.

"Alright. Have fun. See you later."

Elora gave her friend a playful wink and left the café. Sierra sat back in her seat and let out a tired sigh.

It was so peaceful lately, too peaceful even. No robots destroying the city, no evil scientist threatening the poor towns people, nothing. Sierra had the feeling that with the Chaos Emerald now on display, for everyone to see, something bad is bound to happen. Sonic had refused to steel the Emerald even though her Grandfather said to take it, it belonged to them and not the humans, but Sonic ignored him. He said the humans still feared him and his friends, even though they stopped Dr. Robotnik from destroying their city more than once, the humans still felt fear.

Now that Sierra thought about it, she realised that Sonic was right. If the humans still felt uneasy around them, then what would they do if Sonic suddenly broke in and steal 'their' precious jewel. The city would go crazy…

With a heavy sigh Sierra stood up to leave. If Sonic said he will find another way, a safer way to get the Emerald, then she will believe him. Had he ever let her down? That was the end of all this wondering.

…

It was a beautiful night. The stars beamed down on the city illuminating each and every crevice of the buildings, while the air blew a nice gentle breeze across his face. Traffic was at a minimal, a few cars driving here and there. It was serene. Just like he liked it. His cold gaze turned to his night target.

New York City's Safe bank.

Without wasting any time, he ran straight for the building. Ignoring the security completely, he burst in the safe bank with the might of a tornado, destroying half of the entrance hall. Smoke filled the room, making it hard to breathe, but that didn't disturb him. No….he had more important things to do.

Air thundered against him with invisible fists as his muscles clenched like steel cables pulling taught- nothing for it but to hold on with mind and soul, willing himself to _fly_- and suddenly he saw it. The iron door where his prize was being kept. Something inside of him started to erupt, like an angry volcano spitting rocks and fire, destroying everything on its way, making him run faster, breathe easier, _see _better… It was getting a lot hotter, everything felt so heavy around him.

**BOOM! **

An earth shattering force was felt across the building as the energy wave destroyed the heavy iron doors. The sound was painful to the ears… Taking a moment to examine his surroundings he quickly found his prize. In a glass case, on a pedestal, sitting on a red cushion was the purple Chaos Emerald. Pure...wonderful..._powerful _Chaos energy was radiating from its very edges.

He quickly made his way to the centre of the room and smashed the glass case with his fist and took out the purple gem. "Perfect..." he hissed with a grin. Its power surged through his hand, up his arm, and spread through his body. He shivered in delight. He enjoyed power…._very_ much actually. One Emerald was a good start...he wondered faintly what it felt like to control two Emeralds or all _seven_ of them...

His sensitive ear twitched in direction of the approaching footsteps and angry voices. He quickly glanced at the demolished door before returning his gaze on the blazing Emerald in his gloved hand. He clutched the Emerald tightly in his hand, and said the words that were on the tip of his tongue since the moment his fingers touched the purple jewel.

"Chaos... CONTROL!"

…**..**

"I _know_ what I'm doing, Mama, would you just trust me?"

Knuckles tilted his head, attracted by the sounds coming from the kitchen. The echidna closed his eyes and growled under his breath softly, uncomfortable with their loud bickering. This was going on for about an hour.

Elora wanted to prepare dinner herself, while her mother stubbornly refused to let her daughter do so because of an event that happened years ago when Elora almost burned down the kitchen while 'preparing dinner.' But that was years ago! Why can't her mother understand that she's not a seven year old anymore!

Elora was currently standing in front of the stove, her arms out to her sides protectively, guarding the bubbling brew simmering behind her. Her mother stood in opposition, one hand on one hip, sternly waving a wooden ladle back and forth before her obstinate daughter's upturned nose.

"I said no, young lady." She was lecturing and using the ladle to illustrate her every point. "This is _my_ kitchen and what I say in _my_ kitchen goes!"

"But this is my food and my cookware!" Elora all but whined. "There's got to be some latitude you can give me! I'm not a baby anymore. It's time for me to be independent! I promise you very little defilement of your sacred shrine."

Knuckles actually snickered at that last comment. That was a good one. It somehow reminded him of Amy's and Vectors kitchen wars back at home, when Amy wanted to try something new and Vector wouldn't let her come anywhere near the stove until she actually learns how to cook.

Mrs. Ross narrowed her eyes. "Are you giving me lip Elora?"

Exasperated, Elora made a face at her. "I wouldn't dream of that, Mama. I just want to do it myself. I _know_ that I can do it myself," she added pleadingly, "why can't you understand that?"

Frustrated, Mrs. Ross tossed up her hands, giving up. "All right, whatever you say. I won't argue with you anymore." Putting down her ladle she left the kitchen and headed down the hall towards her room.

Evidently in an attempt to hide how much hearing this upset her, Elora quickly moved to turn off the stove. She shifted the vessel she had been stirring to the other unused element to allow it to cool down. Finished, brushing her palms together hastily she slowly made her way towards the living room where Knuckles was currently watching TV. The echidna turned to look at his friend when she dropped next to him on the couch, releasing a deep, tired sigh.

Elora felt like apologising for her mother's absurd behaviour, especially when Knuckles just kept silently staring at her. "I'm sorry for my Mom's behaviour," she put her head in her hand, closed her eyes and sunk lower on the couch. "She's not usually so…..impossible."

Chuckling, Knuckles turned his amethyst eyes back on the TV screen, "She reminds me of a friend back home. Vector the crocodile. He's, what you humans call, a streetwise punk, but oh, does he love to cook. " Knuckles smiled a little. "He calls himself the elite chef. Just like your mother, he made it clear to all of us to stay away from his 'sacred shrine' as you called it."

Perceiving his tone, Elora opened one eye, and returned the echidnas smirk with one of her own. "They would probably get along great."

Knuckles smiled. "Probably."

"_Here is the latest news report….There was a break-in at the New York City's Safe bank where the newfound violet jewel was stolen." _

The warm atmosphere was shattered upon hearing the news about the violet gems disappearance. The young blond reporter was standing near the shattered glass case, where the emerald used to be, talking about the break-in as if she witnessed it with her own eyes. The room, she was in, looked as if it was blown up from the inside. The heavy iron doors was gone, the wall destroyed, small glass pieces were scattered all over the room…

"_We managed to get a picture of the criminal that the infrared camera recorded."_

Neither Knuckles nor Elora were prepared to witness what they saw next. The camera showed a poor image of what looked like a silhouette of their friend Sonic the hedgehog.

"Is…is that Sonic?" Elora asked gently, though surprise and shock was evident in her tone.

Knuckles narrowed his amethyst eyes. Something was very wrong with this picture. Yes, he was with the idea of stealing the emerald, but after Sonic strictly forbid them, he let it go. But then, why did he do it himself and in such a harsh manner. It wasn't like him at all.

Hopping from the couch Knuckles headed for the door when Elora's gentle voice stopped him. "Where are you going?"

"To the Edwards mansion. I want to know what happened." With that said the echidna was out the door before the girl could stop him.

Elora stiffened, her whole body growing rigid with fear. Despite herself, she knew this wont end well.

…**..**

The little fox smiled to himself as he walked through the half-lit halls in the Edwards manor. He enjoyed cooking today with Ella, Amy and Cream. It reminded him of home, when Vanilla would take him, Cream and Charmy to the kitchen and they would spend hours there making something sweet and tasty. Tails smiled sadly at the thought of his friends who were left back home on Mobius. He missed them all…

Passing by the living room, Tails saw that the lights were still on. Curiously he went to look who was in the room. He was surprised to find Sierra there, sitting in front of the couch at the coffee table in front of the television. The screen was flashing random images, but was on mute, so there was no sound but the scribbling of Sierra's pen. Piled around her were papers, her CD player, three open textbooks, a bowl and a mug. A small desk lamp had been propped at the edge of the table, her things bathed in soft yellow light. Sierra lifted her head when Tails came into the hazy white light provided by the TV. Sliding her headphones off to hang around her neck, Sierra smiled in greeting, murmuring a quiet, "Hi."

The little fox walked over and sat by her side, all the while curious sky blue eyes scanning the major paperwork on the coffee table. "What are you doing?" he asked softly.

"Homework." she explained, turning on the sound on the television, with the remote that had been next to her bowl, filled with chips, and mug of tea, long gone cold. Tails glanced down at the books, subjects ranging from Ancient Egyptian culture to the Trojan War, and the Minoan Civilization. It all looked so interesting to him.

"You're interested in ancient civilizations?" the fox's voice held the edge of surprise.

Sierra beamed at the question, her eyes shining while she talked about her dream job. "Oh, yes very much so," she cast her gaze to the history books, the smile never leaving her face. "I want to become an archaeologist. I know that the job is hard and isn't very profitable, but I want it anyway. I love history and I find it very interesting to know how people lived centuries ago, what they did, what tools they used, what cloths they had and so on."

"So, an archaeologist is like a treasure hunter, right?" Tails asked, meeting Sierra's surprised expression.

The girl blinked a few times at the strange question. "Yes, they're kind of similar, only archaeologists can't keep the things they found, they have to give it to the museum, unless their working illegally of course. You don't have archaeology on your planet?"

The fox shook his head. "No, I never heard of it before. We only have treasure hunters. Knuckles and Rouge are treasure hunters." he said, meeting Sierra's curious expression with a smile.

"Oh well, archaeologist, treasure hunter, doesn't matter the name, I still love it! Maybe they could tell me more about it." Sierra grinned; already a new idea about talking with the two animals about their archaeological adventures was forming in her mind.

The little fox smiled brightly, happy to see his human friend so relaxed and happy this evening. She had really improved since the first day that they met. Now she's more open with all of them, more free. He really enjoyed spending time with her, especially when there was only him and her sitting by the X-Tornado, or in the kitchen, drinking tea and exchanging stories about their two worlds. He had learned so much about Earth, everything from holydays to what humans called 'the seven world wonders.' He had also learned that unlike his world magic only existed in book here. Which was really a shame…

"_Here is the latest news report….There was a break-in at the New York City's Safe bank where the newfound violet jewel was stolen." _

"Huh?" Tails blinked after hearing the words 'violet jewel' and 'stolen.' Turning sharply to the TV, Tails glared at the picture that presented itself.

"_We managed to get a picture of the criminal that the infrared camera recorded."_

Wide-eyed, Sierra and Tails could only stare at the TV screen as it showed them the picture of their friend, the wanted criminal who stole the Violet Chaos Emerald…

…Sonic the Hedgehog.

"It couldn't be…" Sierra heard herself blurt in a rushed, breathless sentence, even as her eyes took in the details of his features. The video was blurry but it clearly showed a silhouette of a hedgehog and the only anthropomorphic hedgehogs on Earth were Amy and Sonic. The image clearly showed which of the two it was.

"It's a lie!" Tails' voice screamed, cutting off Sierra's thoughts.

The next few minutes were spent in silence as Tails and Sierra watched the News, both tense and uneasy at what they saw. Like miniature windows onto the aftermath of a tornado, each scene showed a different view of the gutted safe room: light fixtures torn from the ceiling and hanging by their wires over dustings of shattered glass; light streaming in through a giant whole in the wall; wood flooring marred by smoking furrows…

Beside Tails, Sierra gasped, lifting a hand to cover her mouth. "Oh my God."

Before Sierra could pronounce another sentence the fox was already gone, back to Greg's garage, she guessed, to tell his friends about the outrageous incident. Sierra stayed for a few minutes, to calm her fast beating heart, before standing up and going to the garage as well, to find out what was really happening.

…**.. **

**The Next day. **

The sky was pitch black as the overhanging clouds blocked the moon and stars. Rouge the Bat was blankly staring out the car window, looking at the dark water and the never-ending bridge they were currently driving on, while agent Adam Stewart and agent Topaz Rodriguez were discussing their new mission.

A frown appeared on the bat's face as she remembered the news that reached the White House yesterday evening: Sonic the Hedgehog broke in the Safe bank in New York City and stole the Chaos Emerald. Pff. It was absurd. Yes, she saw the News. Yes, it _was _a hedgehog who stole the Emerald, but to the ever observing bat, that didn't mean guilty. After spending years in a battle with Eggman, Rouge knew at what he's capable of. A few years back, the Doctor created an evil robotic counterpart of Sonic, for the sole purpose of destroying the Blue Blur, but luckily the Sonic Team managed to destroy the little devil before it was too late. Maybe the same thing happened again. Old Egghead created another hedgehog robot to steal the Emerald and turn the humans against Sonic and his friends. That must be it.

"Rouge, are you listening to me?" The white bat was pulled from her thoughts by Topazes annoyed call. Rouge blinked slowly and turned to face her fuming partner.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" she asked innocently.

Topaz sighed in obvious annoyance and turned to face the road once more. "We have to track down '**Project Shadow**'" she said simply, not bothering to elaborate.

"**Project Shadow**?" the bat repeated.

"'**Project Shadow**' was a medical research programme conducted by the United States fifty years ago," Agent Stewart said softly as he leaned back in his seat, his eyes never leaving the road while he drove to their destination. "Sadly, all the records about this project were destroyed by the President's order fifty years ago. Yet, now it's been hacked." Stewart said the last part just above a whisper but the two girls heard him clearly.

"Apparently, G.U.N. saved one copy before it was deleted," Topaz explained, her tone calmly pleasant. "Only the President and the team of scientists, who worked on the project, knew the truth behind '**Project Shadow**' and what was it about. When G.U.N. took the file, they couldn't open it."

"What do you mean?" Rouge asked, now highly interested to know more about this mysterious project.

"Well, apparently," Topaz began slowly, "the scientists put a password and a self-destroying program in the file. The more you try to hack in, the more information you destroy. So, they left it be, hoping that one day they'll manage to open it."

"But succeeded at hacking into it and stealing it from G.U.N's main computer." Agent Stewart said in amusement.

"Interesting…" Rouge murmured. Her gaze settled on Topaz, who took out her laptop and was now tapping something, stopping every minute to check on her work. After ten minutes of driving in silence, Topaz turned to Rouge and gave her the laptop.

Seeing the clueless look the bat was giving her, Topaz began explaining. "You won't be able to come with us when were reach our destination, but with this," she pointed at the computer screen, "you will be watching us. I have a camera mounted in my brooch. You will be able to see and hear everything we do."

Rouge examined the winged shaped brooch on the agent's jacket before looking down at the laptop on the seat next to her. "Where are we going anyway?" On the surface, it sounded like a question asked out of mere curiosity, but Topaz could hear the nervousness seeping into her voice.

Topaz grimaced. "Well, we're going to-"

"We're here." Agent Stewart said as they drove to the main gate. "Ladies, welcome to Prison Island."

Stopping in front of the gates, Stewart took out his pass and showed it to the camera. After a minute the gates opened, revealing the prison building inside, surrounded by chain link electrified fence, a place specifically designed to keep people in and to make the world outside of it a safer place.

While driving towards the building, Rouge took a better look at the gray fortress ahead. Past that was an inhospitable jungle, and beyond that was the vast ocean, stretching out for miles in every direction. This was a prison for the most dangerous of prisoners, those who crimes and skills made it essential for them to be stranded far from civilization.

Ice cascaded down Rouge's insides. Compared to this place, Eggman's basses looked like toy factories.

When the car stopped, Topaz turned to Rouge with a serious face. "Stay in the car and don't go anywhere." With that said, she and Stewart left the car.

The bat watched the two agent's before they disappeared into the building. With a heavy sigh she turned to the laptop. Ten minutes later nothing interesting happened. The two agent's had met up with the warden and were now talking in his office.

"_Nobody knows the details of 'Project Shadow' but…" _The warden took a small black remote from his desks and turned on the television. On the screen appeared a picture of a bulky robot with two big rocket launchers on its 'shoulders.' The scene changed and was now showing the robot pointing his guns on…..

The Doctor looked surprised at seeing the robot at first, but before he could do anything a shadowy figure jumped in front of him and smashed the robot with its fist. The screen went black after that.

"_This is the video of what happened last night."_ Said the warden, pushing the button to pause at the slightly blurry picture of the hedgehog. _"We think that Sonic came here with Dr. Robotnik to help him steal 'Project Shadow'. We have a warrant on the hedgehog's capture." _

Rouge clenched her gloved fists. How dare they accuse Sonic of a crime he didn't commit. It was obviously one of Eggman's many plans of world domination, but this time it seems he went on a whole new level.

Maintaining her optimism with furious determination, she concentrated on trying to breathe around the stone lodged in her chest. Peace and recognition. Was that too much to ask? Never mind that she and her friends only saved everyone a few times. The floor just kept tilting and tiling away beneath their feet with no indication that it would ever right itself.

She feared that the worst is yet to come.

…**.**

It was raining heavily.

Sierra looked up at the black sky, letting the rain strike her face and run down over her chin. "I should have gone with Jack when he offered to take me home."

She squeezed her eyes shut, lowering her head. Despite her working non-stop on recording her new song through the day, memories about yesterday came crashing every time she took small breaks from singing.

When she and Tails arrived to Greg's garage last night, all they found there was a crying Cream, heavily upset Amy and a frowning grandpa with no Sonic in sight. There was a lot of yelling, arguing and crying after that, especially when the fuming echidna showed up and demanded to know what's going on. The group of upset and angry animals were all on Sonic's side. They stubbornly refused to believe that their friend and team leader might be a criminal.

After a few hours of arguing and debating, Greg was finally convinced that Sonic was accused of a crime he didn't commit. Sierra was left with mixed feelings about the situation. On one hand, she believed in Sonic's words when he told everyone that he would find an alternative way to gain the Emerald, but on the other hand, she knew how important the Chaos Emeralds were to him and his friends. So, was it wrong to steal what already belonged to them?

Thunder roared and lightning flashed in the sky. It began to rain harder. Heels clicked rapidly against the cold, damp stone as Sierra ran down the streets, stopping now and then to rest under any roof she found, before continuing her run once more.

She was wet, drenched to the bone and shivering. Chocolate brown hair stuck to the sides of her face. Raindrops fell on her cheeks. Rain stung her eyes, almost blinding her, but she kept running as fast as she dared; to avoid slipping in the treacherous puddles. Her clothes were soaked through and clung uncomfortably to her skin. She could feel the icy chill creeping its way to her unsuspecting bones. Her mind toyed her with thoughts of a warm bath, a nice cup of tea, and a roof. What she wouldn't give for a roof over her head right now. And a bed, her travel weary muscles were rather demanding of a nice warm bed right about now.

But almost as soon as the thoughts drifted through her mind, a loud horn made her freeze on the spot. Blinking rapidly she tried to force the rain out of her vision, but it didn't seem to work. It was only after she heard the horn honking again, only much louder, did she look up.

All-too-familiar terror welled up in her chest, clogging her throat, strangling her as her body refused to move from the oncoming truck. Suddenly, Sierra _knew _that she was going to die. She could even see how it would happen in her mind- _God, please don't let me die!_

And time stopped.

...or so it seemed at first.

Sierra felt her feet leave the ground and the cold wind against her face. Moments later her wet and shivering body felt something warm against her side. Trying vainly to control the wild fluttering of her heart, the pounding in her ears, the whirlpool of panic sucking at the edges of her mind, Sierra forced herself to open her eyes….

And her sapphire orbs met ruby red ones.


	20. Enigma

Er…hello my beloved readers. Bet you all thought I had abandoned you, huh? I would never!

I will never abandon this story, because I have BIG plans for it! I'm so sorry for my SLOW update but I really don't have the time to write. I have school and work, so I'm just to tired most of the time to sit down and write, but don't worry I'll still continue to write when I have free time.

Now I don't think I mentioned this before, but I don't like when things are being rushed. Every new little detail you find in my chapters mean something. Eventually, if you continue to read, it will all make sense. ;)

Anyway, thanks to all of you guys for your comments. (You know I LOVE reading them!) I hope you enjoy the new chapter. I'll see ya next time.

With love, Amethyst

* * *

_She is an __enigma_ wrapped in a little blood riddle.

* * *

"Rouge?"

Rouge glanced up from her contemplations, startled. Her shoulders visibly relaxed when she saw that the intruder was only Topaz. "Yes? What is it?" she asked before going back to her reading on the laptop.

"What are you doing?" The agent entered the dimly lit room and sat down on the sofa next to the white bat, whose eyes were glued to the computer screen in front of her.

"Reading the News."

Outside the weather seemed to reflect the misery in her mind. Her sensitive ears could hear the loud rain hitting the window pane. The boom of thunder somewhere far, far away. The room felt cold and depressing. The four walls surrounding them, were suffocating the young bat. Maybe it was all due to the gloomy weather outside? If so, the icy atmosphere didn't seem to bother the two human agents at all.

"I see," Topaz said dryly. The three arrived at Stewart's apartment hours ago and the bat hasn't moved from the computer since. Topaz had mentioned earlier that G.U.N. had located Sonic and were in pursuit of him. That was three hours ago. No news about the capture of the blue hedgehog yet.

Topaz shook her head. She wasn't sure if she believed the hedgehog to be guilty or not. So far, the evidence was not in the hedgehog's favor, but her job proved that looks can be deceiving. She had her doubts, but she was sure that wherever Sonic was involved, so was Robotnik. With Robotnik came the Chaos Emeralds, and with Chaos Emeralds came disaster. Topaz had seen and felt the power of the Emeralds for herself. They weren't a _human_ creation and they didn't belong in this world. Of course she had voiced this thought to her Captain before; warned him that the humans weren't ready to hold such power, it wasn't theirs to claim, but obviously they thought differently. When Sonic and his friends (together with Robotnik) appeared in the human world, they brought the power of Chaos with them. Humans immediately went for that power, just to stop another human from wiping them from the face of the Earth. How pathetic…..

"I'm going to the balcony. I need some fresh air."

The agent's thoughts were interrupted when the bat got up and quietly left the room. Topaz shrugged lightly and glanced at the laptop. They still had time before the Captain calls. Might as well relax while they still can.

Rouge entered the office room, where she saw was a balcony when they arrived at the apartment. While passing by the desk something caught the bat's eye. Two files to be more exact. She granted herself a few minutes to scan the files and reached out for the G.U.N. file first. Papers, missions, photos and an ID of Agent Adam Stewart, the blond man who was accompanying Topaz in finding '**Project Shadow**.'

Rouge gave the file another bored look, before putting it away and reaching for the other one. '_S.S.E. School_' was written on the front, this caused the bat to wonder. Why would something like that be between the agent's G.U.N. documents?

She was surprised at what she found.

Between report papers, she found another ID. Agent Stewart's photo was on the front, but what caught her keen interest was the name. From Adam Stewart it was changed to Mr. Franklyn Stuart.

Rouge skimmed the card. A note at the bottom of the card caught her attention. '_Station Square's Elementary School teacher'_ was written in black letters. A secret mission perhaps? She needed to finish reading the notes and break this down into something she could understand. She skipped ahead until she found some kind of photos. The first few, what she guessed, were of the Elementary School, the next one was of a class full of kids, but the last couple of photos caught her completely by surprise. They were all about Sierra Edwards.

This only brought more questions to the surface. Rouge weighed the information in her mind and was only able to come up with one theory. Judging that G.U.N. had her on their radar twenty four seven, they decided to put a spy in the Elementary School, so he could _spy _on Sierra and through her find out more about the Sonic Team.

Letting out a tired, irritated sigh, Rouge put the file back on the desk. G.U.N. was playing a nice game, but games can only go so far with the Sonic Team. She briefly wondered if her team already knew about this, and even if they didn't what could G.U.N. possibly want to find out so badly. They already know about the existence of the Chaos Emeralds and the madman known as Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik, what more could they possibly want.

"What are you doing?"

The question threw Rouge off guard. She turned towards the speaker and saw Topaz standing in the doorway, arms crossed and an annoyed little scowl painted on her face. She entered the room and briefly glanced at the files on the desk, before her gaze finally stopped on the bat.

"What were you doing here?"

Rouge shrugged casually. "Oh, nothing. Just saw something on the desk. Couldn't resist taking a peek. Force of habit." She answered simply.

A flat look, perfectly practiced, was levelled in the bat's direction. The older women didn't reply, instead she continued on staring at the other with a haughty expression. Seconds ticked by as an impromptu staring contest began. An immeasurable amount of time later, Topaz sighed and walked away, stopping in the door of the balcony.

"My Captain called. He has a mission for you."

The white bat sighed and glanced sideways at her human partner. "What is it?"

Topaz didn't reply for a moment, her thoughts were running on how she's going to explain this quisling mission to her partner. She didn't even know where to begin.

"G.U.N. wants you….." she hesitated. She personally would prefer a different approach on the matter, but orders were orders. "G.U.N. wants you to infiltrate Robotnik's base. You must make a deal with him and find out what he knows, and why he stole '**Project Shadow**'."

Rouge blinked slowly, hopping that she misheard her partner's words. "That's…that's impossible. He knows that I'm working with the Sonic Team now. He'll never believe that I betrayed them just to get some info on some kind of stupid medical project!" The bat responded harshly, her expression looked horrified.

She didn't want to lose her team's trust, not again, and being a meanly thief her whole life: stealing, cheating and lying for many years didn't help the matter. She worked hard to get where she is now. She wasn't planning on throwing it all away for the humans. It was their problem not hers.

"We know that," Topaz continued, ignoring the outburst, "that's why we have a bait that will make him listen to your request."

There was a long pause before the bat spoke again. "What is this 'bait' you're talking about?"

Topaz spared a glance at the bat; she chose her words carefully, mentally stepping around the bombs that could explode in their faces in any given moment.

"You'll offer him a Chaos Emerald. Then tell him where the other one is located."

There was a moment of silence. Soon that moment became an entire minute. Topaz patiently waited for some kind of response from the bat.

"You want me to do _what_?" Rouge muttered coldly.

Topaz buried her head in her hand in frustration. _Ka-boom, _she thought, realizing that by trying so hard to avoid the traps, she'd stepped directly into the gunfire. Topaz mentally prepared herself for the long explanation ahead. She was only fallowing orders, she had nothing to lose, but Rouge may lose everything because of this one stupidly-important mission.

Topaz forced her guilty thoughts to stop. In order to succeed, you must throw away all doubts and fallow your given orders.

_Just fallow orders… _

…**...**

Thunder rolled overhead like waves washing upon the shore. The low rumbled started from some great distance, moving ever closer all the while. Then it broke, like the ocean reaching its highest peak, and the sound reverberated through the walls of the large manor.

Lightning cracking outside, was the only light that reached into the darkened hall. Whatever the bright light couldn't bless with its grace was damned in the dark.

Sierra sat on the now puddle covered marble floor, her back pressed against the front door, body trembling in cold fear. She forced open tired eyes, focusing on the dark side of the room. Slowly, she relaxed her tense grip on her soaked and partly ruined bag and shifted her shoulders ever so slightly, pressing her lips together until the pressure of them against her teeth hurt. She continued to stare blankly into the dark, surprised she'd managed to reach the house in her near comatose state. She struggled to recall memories of her near death experience that happened less than an hour ago.

She shifted her head, her neck aching, and everything seemed to snap back into place in her mind; the flashes flooded her conscious and she closed her eyes against the overwhelming backlash of the event she'll probably never forget.

What happened back there in the city? The young girl haven't been able to fully open her eyes when her ruby eyed savior was gone from sight. Who was it? Thoughts of it being some kind of robot were quickly banished from her mind. Her savior was of flesh and bone, with a steady and powerful heartbeat. And the warmth that radiated from the small body only proved that it was a living, breathing creature.

Sierra sat up straight and moved her wet hair from her face, only now noticing how quiet it was in the house. Was she alone? Sierra visibly grimaced for her stupidity. She should be grateful that no one is here to see the mess that was her at the moment. What kind of excuse would she give?

After a few more calming breaths, she got up and made her way towards her room. When reaching her room, Sierra threw her bag in the corner and went straight for the bathroom to take a shower. An hour later she was sitting on her soft bed, staring at nothing, mind blank and tired beyond beliefs.

She rubbed her face with her cold hand, shivering at her own touch. While her bedroom was warm, she felt unnecessarily cold. The showers warmth was all but gone now.

This week was literally turning into one big hell carnival. The big bang being the Chaos Emeralds robbery and the sudden disappearance of the blue hedgehog and now her almost dying today made it all worse. And there was of course her ruby eyed savior…

Now that the storm finally ended and the shock faded away, Sierra attempted to scrutinize the medley of conflicting emotions that her savior was giving off. The moment their eyes met she had a feeling, like someone was trying to invade her mind. Or was it the other way around? Was she invading his mind? The touch was gentle, as if it meant no harm, but it still freaked her out. His thoughts held only hate, while his emotions radiated deep sorrow and pain. A year ago, Sierra would have figured herself for normal. Now she wasn't so sure.

She sighed and curled forward, head in her hands. She was useless in this state of mind. If she doesn't clear her head soon, she'll probably do something she will seriously regret later.

It's becoming too much.

Suddenly her bedroom door flew open, making her jump. Greg ran into the room, shaking his head in consternation. One look at the old man told Sierra that he had bad news. He looked at his granddaughter, his gaze was hard, yet his eyes held softness and concern.

"I just got a call from one of my colleagues. Sonic was spotted in the city together with a black hedgehog."

_Black hedgehog…._ Sierra swallowed hard and her hands gripped her silky bed sheets, squeezing tightly. She knew, somehow she knew, that the said black hedgehog in the city was the same one who saved her today.

Suddenly a thought crossed her mind…The Emerald's disappearance, Sonic being accused of robbery, the dark silhouette of a hedgehog….

_It was him….. the black hedgehog was responsible for all of this._

"I'm going to the city to find out what is really happening. I'm leaving in ten minutes. If you want to go with me, get ready now." Warning issued, Greg stormed back out of the room, leaving behind a still confused and thoroughly bewildered brunette behind.

Shock aside, Sierra jumped to her feet and ran to her closet. It was hard to believe that another animal from Sonic's world appeared on Earth. And if she guessed right, then he wasn't as friendly as the others. But…she had to see this first hand. She had to know. Just one scrap of evidence didn't tell her all she wanted to know.

Quickly putting on her denim skirt, a white blouse and a black jacket, Sierra tied her still damp hair in a messy bun, put on her black boots and flew out the door, running full speed for the garage where her grandfather was waiting.

Upon reaching the car, Sierra got into the passenger seat while Greg started the car. Throwing a glance at the back seats, Sierra was surprised that Sonic's friends weren't coming with them. She glimpsed in Greg's direction. He didn't look back. His gaze was fixed solely on the road before him.

"Where is everyone else?"

There was a slight pause before Greg answered, "I wanted to check on this myself before I tell the others." It looked like he was going to say something else, but in the end decided against it.

Concerned, Sierra turned her gaze to the road. She didn't like where this was going. Maybe it was just the aftershock taking over from today's horrible event, but something was terribly off about this whole situation with the mysterious black hedgehog.

_But, he saved my life. _She tried to remind herself, despite the sharp pang she felt in her heart. _He can't be someone evil if he saved me. _

Somehow she didn't feel convinced.

…**.**

Dusk slowly faded into night. There was still the faintest orange-pink light glowing on the vast horizon, but the moon had conquered the sun and now hung high in the sky, half-full and shining. The air was cool and fresh. The night was quiet and peaceful…

Very soon the serene atmosphere will shatter.

Crimson eyes narrowed as he studied the human filled streets below him. _Humans…_The name alone made his blood will forever be above humanity. Someone above all others, with a smarter mind and powers beyond their understanding.

He will forever hate the human race. Hate them for being selfish, for being ungrateful, and for believing themselves to be all-powerful. Fearing and isolating things that are different, for wasting their life's on people who aren't worth their agony.

The humans really were pathetic beings. Ordinary, self-centred, overly emotional, malicious creatures; who squeak and cower in fear, never once showing backbone unless they are sure of their victory. These petty beings only shrink in terror from monsters real and imagined - and turn on those far weaker than they. They prey on the weak and call themselves strong. Small wonder that he hates them so.

He glared into the sky. No….he didn't hate them all. There were two humans who he valued above everything else…

His closest friend, Maria Robotnik and his creator, Professor Gerald Robotnik.

He clenched his fists. They _were_, but now they're gone. Murdered by their own people. And for what? For trying to find a cure for a fatal illness? For trying to help their beloved planet?

He stiffened, his spines bristling on his back. Powerful memories were washing over him again. He and Maria looking out the window of the ARK…..talking quietly in a dark room, with planet Earth shining below them…..G.U.N. soldiers breaking in and chasing her down the hall…..The escape pod…..the bullets…..Maria's last words….then everything disappeared from his sight…..

He shook his head from the painful memories. Oh, words couldn't describe what he felt for the humans right now. Yet, he saved one of them today and there was no sane explanation why. It shouldn't matter to him if that girl lives or dies, but while his mind was having a conflict with his heart, his body moved on its own and before he knew it, the girl was safe in his arms.

He didn't want to admit to himself, but as soon as their eyes met, he felt a painful stab in his heart. For a second he thought he was looking into _her _eyes, but soon he realised that they were nothing like Maria's.

While Maria had bright, innocent, _alive_, sky-blue eyes, the girl had a deep shade of sapphire blue he had ever seen. Such inhuman colour….There was nothing in those ever blue eyes. Only his own reflection…

The eyes weren't the only abnormal thing he noticed in the girl. The moment he touched her, he felt a small sensation of Chaos coming from within her. It was so small, barely noticeable. But it was there…..

He cursed himself for letting some human girl affect him like that. She was not worth his time… And yet, here he was, wondering why the girl looked at him with surprise and curiosity rather than fear and horror…

_And why did the presence of Chaos radiated from her?_

Suddenly, he felt the sensation of Chaos nearby. It was much clearer and much more powerful.

Eyes closed, he focused on the world around him. A moment later, his eyes snapped open. There was no doubt about it now.

He had finally found him…..

Sonic the Hedgehog.

…

The air felt cold against his fur, but he still kept running. He was doing that unstop almost three days now. He had to find the dark hedgehog who pretended to be him and caused quite a scene here in New Your city.

Sonic couldn't be all that sure exactly who that hedgehog was. His first thought was that it had to be one of Eggman's freaky robot henchmen. But that thought vanished when he overheard the policemen talking about the hedgehog and how he used the Emerald's power to escape and demolish half of the museum's building.

This is becoming troublesome. He and his friends worked hard to blend in and be accepted by the human race. He won't let some wannabe hedgehog ruin everything for them. Sonic didn't openly show it to his friends, but he greatly valued their opinion. And now Sierra's opinion and her thoughts mattered to him just as much as his whole teams. He spent almost five months trying to gain the girl's trust; he wasn't going to lose it now. Though knowing his luck today, he was probably back on the girl's bad-guy list.

Sonic had plenty of time to think about all of this in nine-point-five-zero seconds it took the machine to come in for a second attack. The stupid Gun Beetle robots, created by the military organization G.U.N. had been chasing him the entire day. The laser attack ripped through the pavements and walls, always one step behind him with every slab removed. Sonic briefly wondered if the military cared that their robots were destroying the city streets just to capture him.

He dodged another attack. _Alright, that's it, _he thought angrily. He was trying to avoid these things through the day, but enough of this. He did not possess Espio's golden patience. The plan was to lose them through the day, but they still managed to find him at the end of it.

Sonic skidded to a halt several feet away, with one Beetle smashing into the building in its hurry to catch him. The others stopped just a few feet away from the hedgehog.

Sonic allowed a small smile to appear on his face. Fast they may have been, but their speed paled in comparison to his. That was all he needed to know. He took a few steps back then charged forwards. Curling into a ball, he smashed into the robots, destroying them instantly, like they were made of simple glass rather then hard metal.

"Good riddance." He murmured. As soon as the words left him, he heard something big crash behind him. Turning around he came face to face with another metal problem. Big Foot. Another machine made by G.U.N.

"For the love of Chaos." Sonic was about to attack when suddenly he felt the presence of Chaos nearby, and it wasn't coming from the Chaos Emerald he had with him now. He couldn't pinpoint the right direction, but the threads of Chaos were strong.

The robot fired and Sonic made a back flip to avoid the bullets. He landed gracefully on his feet and briefly looked around, in hopes of finding where the Chaos Emerald might be. The robot was preparing to release a set of missiles on the hedgehog, when suddenly a lightning-like shot struck the robot, slicing it in half.

Thick black smoke filled the air, making Sonic take a few steps back. The Cyan Emerald he had began to glow softly, detecting the other one close by. Sonic's eyes narrowed when a bright golden light appeared above the robot's demolished form. When the light faded away, a dark form appeared, looking down at the blue hedgehog with a cold smirk on his face.

"What the…."

"Mmm, we really do look alike," said the black hedgehog, his voice was deep and soft, but held deep menace within. "It's no wonder those fools made a mistake."

Sonic sent the black hedgehog a fiery glare, making it quite clear he was not amused. At all. "So, it was you committing those crimes by impersonating me…" he clenched his fists, but besides that, he offered him no visible reaction that he was irked beyond belief. "You damn faker!"

Without much thought he ran straight at the black hedgehog. However, his opponent vanished as soon as he reached the robot.

"I can assure you, I am no fake." Said the black one, appearing where Sonic stood just moments ago. "Maybe you are the fake one here." It was spoken quietly, but Sonic heard it.

"Why you….." Having lost what little patience he had with the arrogant hedgehog, Sonic charged at him full speed. His eyes widened slightly, when the other hedgehog dodged him and then ran after him, actually _keeping up_.

Sonic wasn't running anywhere near his full speed, only a weak 200 km per hour, but that faker was right behind him. His thoughts came to an absurd end, when he felt a sharp, shock-like, pain in his back that send him crashing into the streets at great speed.

Rising to his knees, he coughed. His back hurt and he could feel a painful sting on the left side of his face, where he guessed his cheek was bleeding. That was not a simple punch that struck him down, no that was a Chaos attack, which means his black opponent has the Chaos Emerald and knows how to use it.

Looking up, he spotted the black one approaching him, the Violet Emerald shining with a soft pink-purple light in his gloved hand. Sonic closed his eyes and grinned humourlessly. Another crazy super villain trying to take over the world.

Unlike Eggman, this one has direct access to Chaos….

It turned out a lot worse than he expected.

"And I heard you were fast," the black hedgehog looked down at him, obviously enjoying the dark glare that was pointed at him. "You couldn't even avoid my Chaos Spear."

Sonic smirked, in spite of the fact that his body felt like he ran straight into a lightning bolt. _He's good… if he wasn't an impersonator, I'd consider him a worthy rival._

"Don't underestimate me." The two leaped into the air and spun into balls, using friction to come at each other with lightning speed. The two hedgehogs ricocheted against each other like pinballs, each side trying to overcome the other. The last blow they exchanged caused the black one to fly up into the air. He quickly unrolled and came straight down at Sonic, kicking him in the stomach.

Sonic crashed to the ground; his injured cheek began to bleed more. He wiped some blood that got into his mouth and looked up to see the other coming down at him with his foot out. Sonic quickly rolled out of the way, causing the hedgehog to slam into the walkway, making a large dent in it. The dark one cursed under his breath and glanced towards the other.

He grinned slightly, slowly rising to his feet. The Chaos Emerald was shining brightly in his hand. "Give me your best shot."

Sonic's scowl deepened; the chaos energy building in his veins, practically crying at him to release it. The Cyan Emerald was almost burning with power, crying to be released.

"Gladly."

The air around them felt like it was breaking. That was the only way Sonic could describe it. The instant he called upon the Emerald's power, something felt terribly wrong. Not that it hadn't _already_ looked pretty bizarre and non-focussed to begin with, but now the Chaos Energy was giving away a sick kind of sensation. Or that as what it _felt _like, anyway.

The energy flashed brightly through the streets and the two hedgehogs charged at one another. The atmosphere around them changed so suddenly that it felt as if the sun was blazing in their faces. Whichever description to use, the basic explanation was that it was really, _really_ bright, and it _hurt_.

_And the Chaos Emeralds haven't even clashed yet._

Suddenly Sonic felt a painful tugging. Something like invisible threads pulling hard at his heart and chest and pretty much everywhere else. Sonic winced, then gasped. Something was _wrong_. But it was too late to stop them now.

The energy was reaching its boiling point. A sensation that made it feel as if the whole world was being thrown out of balance. And they were still running….

"**STOP**"

Everyone froze.

A glimmer of purple glistened in front of Sonic's eyes for a moment and then winked out of sight. The black hedgehog appeared behind him, thus breaking the intense Chaos chain they created between the two Emeralds.

Sonic blinked hard and glanced to the side. His emerald eyes widened in surprise and light horror when he spotted Sierra, standing by her grandfather's car, looking at him with the same surprise and horror in her sapphire eyes. The girl's eyes stayed on him for a few more seconds before her gaze shifted to the black hedgehog.

Sonic frowned. It was the look on Sierra's face that bothered him the most. "Bothered him" as in made him want to go and Chaos-Control that black faker to bits for making her look that way. Sierra was looking at the dark one like she _knew _him and was utterly disappointed at seeing him like this.

"It's you…..."

The words came out as a small whisper from the black hedgehog, but Sonic heard him. His head immediately turned towards the faker, his eyes grew wide from the shock of what he heard. Sonic caught a glimpse of recognition and surprise in those hard ruby eyes and his own surprise and shock melted away and anger took over.

_He knows Sierra? How is that possible?_

The silence went on for what seemed like hours. Long enough for Sierra to start entertaining some rather worrying thoughts. Thoughts about what had happened to Sonic and what would have happened to the two hedgehogs if she didn't interfere.

Sierra felt a cold shiver ran down her spine. Suddenly she felt a wave of negative emotions wash over her, making her wrap her arms tightly around her chest. Pain, confusion, realisation, anger; those were the emotions she felt coming from….who? She had no idea, but she was _absolutely _sure it wasn't her emotions. Whatever was going on, she had absolutely no idea what it was.

And then her thoughts were interrupted by an echoing of incoming sirens and angry police shouts. Everyone turned towards the sound and Sierra felt the negative emotions suddenly disappear and the only thing that was left was her own confusion and frustration.

Resting her fingertips on the sides of her face, she began to massage her temples. What was wrong with her? _Oh, I hope this isn't some weird near death side affect. The visions I have are more than enough. _

A bright violet light interrupted her mental scenarios, demanding her gaze. The light blinded her for several seconds, when she looked again the black hedgehog was gone.

Sonic growled softly when the black faker disappeared with the Emerald. He glanced behind him, the police was getting closer. Sonic suppressed a sigh; he had no desire to fight with them, if what he could use them to find out more about the black hedgehog and whether or not old Eggman is involved with the faker as well.

"What are you waiting for? Get out of here before they catch you."

Sierra's panicked voice stopped his train of thought. The blue blur faced the girl with a soft smile. "Don't worry about me, darling." He pulled away from her gaze so that he didn't have to see the disappointment in her eyes and added softly, "Let them catch me."

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion before Sierra's eyes.

Sonic's arms were held tightly behind his back, his comfort level hovering somewhere between pressure and pain. Two police officers were walking by his side, while the rest of the group moved off to the side when the police chopper arrived.

Sierra was watching the scene with glassy eyes; she still couldn't believe what she was seeing. Now she knew that the black hedgehog was the one who the police was really after. The one who stole the Violet Emerald, the one who hurt Sonic, the one who almost destroyed half of the square, the one who saved her from death…

Sierra looked away. She will think no more of that. The mystery behind the black hedgehog will have to wait, but Sonic can't. Why did he gave himself away? Why didn't he run? What could he possibly do while being locked away in some highly guarded prison? She didn't understand his motive.

Stopping in front of the helicopter, Sonic turned and flashed one last smile to his perturbed friend. "Don't worry. We'll see each other soon. I promise."

With those words he disappeared from Sierra's sight.

Turning around sharply, she began walking towards her grandfather's car. The loud sound of the helicopter filled the air. The strong wind blew through her already messy hair. The sirens began to fade away in the distance. Soon the streets were quiet once again. Only the curious whispers of the late night wandering people were heard.

Sierra climbed into the car quietly. She could feel Greg's eyes on her, but she didn't care. She was lost, her thoughts were empty. What happens now? Should she do something, or should she just wait.

_Wait?…..No._

She didn't wait for anything. Just sitting and waiting won't solve anything. She'd rather do _something_ than wait. Sierra found herself wondering –not for the first time– if she could believe in Sonic's words.

"_Don't worry. We'll see each other soon….. I promise." _

Neither knew that those were the last words the hedgehog spoke to the girl before the approaching tragedy.

…**.**

Silence painted the walls of the half-lit bedroom, the only sound was that of the early morning birds, singing their beautiful songs to the world.

Sierra ignored all the sounds around her and instead continued to stare intently at the shining Green Emerald before her. The main house was quite lively this early morning. Everyone was having breakfast in the large dining room, while Greg took it upon himself to explain to the distressed team about the incident that he and his granddaughter witnessed yesterday late at night. Sierra managed to avoid this little gathering by waking up earlier than everyone else (sleep failed her through the night), and having breakfast alone while the residents of the house were still sound asleep in their rooms.

While everyone was discussing (or planning a break out plan), Sierra found herself craving the company of the three mystical gems that were in Greg's garage room. She didn't know what made her come here. Her thoughts were in complete turmoil and for some unexplainable, crazy reason she thought that being in the presence of the magical gems will calm her down. It obviously worked, because now her mind was blank, her body lost all the tension, she was at peace.

To her dismay, she still had a problem before her. She knew the problem wasn't her alone and no one was forcing her to do anything about it, but she simply couldn't let it be like that. Not after everything she saw, not after yesterday….

Sitting up straight in Greg's comfy black leather chair she reached out for the Green Emerald. She needed a plan, an idea, anything that could help her and the others and maybe by touching the Emerald she will get her answer.

When her fingers touched the surface of the gem she received her answer. What she saw next scared her more than all the previous visions that washed over her.

_The room was large and bright, sheathed in metal and ringed with advanced machines and consoles that defied description. A cool blue glow filled the room from the hundreds of screens and spiralling holographic displays._

_Two robots stood by the computer screen, talking quietly among themselves. _

_Dr. Robotnik stood in the centre of the small group with the mysterious black hedgehog standing on his right and Rouge the Bat, with a bouquet of blood red roses in her hands, standing before the human with her hand outstretch, offering him the blue Chaos Emerald. _

"_I might be able to tell you where the other Chaos Emerald is…..so let's make a deal."_

_The man looked suspicious at first, but eventually agreed to her terms. _

_The bat glanced at the dark hedgehog; a mysterious smile graced her face. "My name is Rouge the Bat. And you are?" _

_His back was turned to her. It didn't look like he was going to answer, but then…._

"_Shadow," He faced her. His eyes were hard and distant. "Shadow the Hedgehog." _

…**..**

_The black hedgehog and the bat stood in the middle of a forest with Dr. Robotnik sitting in his hovering machine, barking orders at the two animals. _

_After exchanging a few more words, the doctor threw a small device to the hedgehog. The two animals nodded and disappeared in the forest. _

"_We only have one chance….don't fail….."_

…**.**

_The enormous room was filled with water. _

_In the centre stood a glass capsule; inside was an old metal cell. _

_Sonic was sitting with his back supported against the wall, eyes closed, hands in his lap, legs crossed._

_The hedgehog was very still; very quiet….it must be nerve-wracking._

_He had no escape, nowhere to go. It was that simple. _

_The blue blur cocked his head, idly wondering something._

_He was waiting…. _

"_Just….who are you?"_

…**.**

_The building was burning._

_Missiles flew out from the forest and collided with the already flaming grey prison, filling the blue sky with dark, thick smoke. _

_The angry flames spread to the trees and in seconds it turned into a raging forest fire. _

_Men dressed in black uniforms ran out from the blazing building, weapons all aimed at the sky where their attacker was. Dr. Robotnik was laughing like a lunatic at their weak attempt to shoot him down. _

_The X-Tornado appeared in the sky. _

_Robotnik and Tails clashed in a sky battle with missiles and lasers. _

_The battle ended when Robotnik quickly fled the burning island. _

"_Something doesn't feel right." The fox murmured. _

"_We don't have time to waste. We have to save Sonic!" Amy snapped. _

_Tails stayed silent for a moment, seeming to ponder her words while looking in the direction where Robotnik disappeared. _

"_Alright, let's go." Tails hesitated._

_Something was bothering the fox. _

…

_10:00_

_09:59_

_09:58_

_09:57…and counting…_

…

_They were fighting. Again. _

_Blue and black racing through the forest: only stopping when one of them delivers a punch and the other one- dodges. _

_Stop..._

_Punch…._

_Dodge…._

_Run…._

_Stop….Punch….Dodge…Punch…._

"_Who are you?" _

_Punch….Kick…_

"_Someone more powerful than you'll ever be." _

_Dodge…..Punch…._

…

_The black hedgehog stood in the centre of the yellow-wall room, two Emeralds were held tightly in his grasp while the third one was held high above his head. _

_Rouge stood a few feet away from him, her face held fear and anger. She screamed at him, he yelled back. It was hard to make out words. It was like listening to people talk while being under water. No matter how loud they were, the words made no sense. _

_Suddenly everything was swallowed by a white glow, then the sound of something exploding….then nothing…_

…

With a start and a violent twitch, Sierra jerked herself awake.

Eyes flashing open, she gasped in a harsh rattle of breath- then another, and another. When at last the creeping realization that it had been no more than a vision trembled through her, her heart beat slowed from its panicked gallop into a more restrained sprint. It took a moment or two for the knowledge of her situation to rush back to her conscious mind. She was in her grandfather's room, in the garage, seeking answers…right, answers.

Sierra looked down at the glowing Green Emerald in her hands and a small tremble went through her.

This vision…wasn't like the other ones she had. This one looked and _felt _more like a warning of what might happen if…..

Sierra stood up suddenly, the gem was still glowing softly in her hand, offering comfort. She ignored the strange feeling, instead she put the Emerald back in the glass case and quickly left the garage. She had to find a way to speak with Rouge. But how?

When Sierra entered the main house she heard Amy's protesting shouts coming from the dinning room, fallowed by Tails' more calmer responses. It looked like they haven't formed a plan yet, so she took note not to bother them. She wasn't sure if Sonic told them about her visions. If he didn't she defiantly didn't want to explain something that she didn't understand herself.

When she reached her room, she closed the door and absently looked around her room. She had no idea what to do next.

…**.. **

The next five hours passed in something of a blur. Or they did for Sierra, anyway.

She was sitting in her rose garden, the same one where Sonic heard her sing, where he showed concern for her wellbeing, where she coldly refused his friendly offer of spending some time with him and his team…

Sierra growled in frustration and rested her head on the tea table. Five hours passed and she still didn't know what to do. Her thoughts were being dragged to a standstill. She was starting to think that she won't be able to help anyone after all. And anyway, from the looks of how things were going she really _needed_ to punch something right now.

Seeing as there wasn't anything she could punch, she kicked the table leg with her heel boot instead.

And it made her feel more pathetic than she already was….

"My, my, what did the poor table did to deserve your anger?"

Sierra's head immediately turned towards the speaker and she saw the one person who she desperately needed to see.

"Rouge!"

The bat girl winked playfully and landed on the soft grass next to Sierra's table. Her smile vanished when she saw the distressed look on the human's face.

"Is something wrong?" A bad feeling washed over her.

Sierra bit down on her bottom lip and nodded. "I need to talk to you. It's urgent."

The girl decided to take the bat to her bedroom, so the two of them could talk in private. She thought the garden wasn't a safe place to exchange private thoughts, because you never know who might be listening on your conversations. She only hoped that no one will see the two of them till they reach the room.

When Sierra closed her bedroom door her shoulders visibly relaxed and she turned to face the bat. A few thoughts and questions ran through her mind on how she should approach this matter. She only told Sonic about these strange visions and even then it was in a hysterical state.

With a slightly sour look she decided to start this conversation with a simple question. "What brought you here? You don't usually visit?"

Rouge appeared to be debating internally, tapping one elegantly booted heel, before she smiled dazzlingly. "I would visit more, but your government is really making me work like a dog, or they try to make me work anyway." The bat walked over to the girl's comfy bed and sat down. "But honestly, I came here to talk to my friends about a secret mission G.U.N. gave me recently."

"Is this 'secret mission' has anything to do with working with Dr. Robotnik?" Sierra asked bluntly. She wasn't sure if what she saw was true, but by the look on the bat's face, she knew she was on the right path.

"How did….how did you know?" A look of astonishment appeared on her face.

_So, it's true…._ _I really did see the future. _"I'm not sure how to explain….This morning, when I touched the Green Chaos Emerald, I saw images, events, of you, Robotnik and him, the black hedgehog…Shadow the hedgehog." Sierra said the last part in a soft whisper, but the bat heard her clearly.

Rouge stayed silent for a moment, seeming to ponder her words, "…..Shadow the hedgehog?"

"I saw him," Sierra continued to speak, "in my vision. He was working with Dr. Robotnik. He is also the one who stole the Chaos Emerald a few nights ago."

Rouge was donning a rather peculiar expression. She appeared to be debating internally. _Could this hedgehog be the same 'Project Shadow' that Topaz and __Stewart__ are looking for?_ She let her mind wander. Something didn't feel right about this '_project_'. Was the medical research program all a lie? Was the purpose of its creation only to cover up the real truth behind the project? Did the humans actually create a Mobian-like creature, or is it all just one of many Eggman's brilliant ideas of world domination?

No matter how you look at it, things were far from okay.

Silence stretched out between them, neither knowing what to say. Finally, Rouge decided to ask the one question that threw her off guard earlier. "The Chaos Emerald _showed _you the future?"

Sierra looked at the bat charily, guardedly. "I know it's hard to believe, but I'm not lying." Her face was cleared of expression, as she remembered the last part of the vision, before a bright light blanked out the rest of the scene.

"Well, no one said that it was impossible, hon," Rouge tried to catch Sierra's sapphire gaze, to assure her that she believed in her words. Feeling like the girl was waiting for her to speak again, she did. "I'm surprised actually. I never knew that the Chaos Emeralds could show the future."

Rouge relaxed minutely. "Something like this never happened to us before." She murmured to herself.

Sierra began to fill with dread after hearing the bat's words. She actually wished she had the courage to talk to Sonic about these visions and maybe now she wouldn't feel like a total freak, who can foresee the future. And a rather tragic future at that.

"Can you tell me more about this black hedgehog?"

Sierra's eyebrows rose on her face in a gentle arch. What can she say? She wanted to say that he wasn't anyone bad, that he wasn't working together with Dr. Robotnik, that he is actually their ally. But it seems he is not…

"I don't know anything about him." The brunette blurted out.

Sierra sighed irritably as she made her way towards the balcony door. She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against the cool glass door. Her mind was playing tricks on her. She blinked slowly, trying to refocus her thoughts, and her gut crammed itself into a hard little knot as her mind circled back to that awful vision, to the one problem she didn't want to see or examine.

She didn't know why, but she wanted to know more about that mysterious hedgehog (_Shadow….his name is Shadow_). She couldn't understand why, there was no reason for her to pry and go out digging up more than she could handle. But she wanted to do it anyway. Whatever the feeling that drove her, it stubbornly refused to back down.

She swallowed, took a deep breath in through her nose, and spoke, "You're going to give Robotnik the Blue Chaos Emerald, right?"

Rouge blinked and threw her gaze on the girl's turned back, startled. "Y-yes, that was the plan. I assume you saw that as well?"

"That and much more." The brunette replied quietly.

Wryly, Rouge cocked one eye at her, smirking. "And of course you don't want to tell me about it."

A frown crossed the girl's features. "No, I'll tell you everything," she turned her head towards the bat, her blue eyes cold and icy with determination."But _you_ will take me with you."

Rouge instantly reacted. "Absolutely not! I'm not taking you with me to meet that old, fat robot-lover, Sonic will kill me! And what if something goes wrong and-"

"I'm not asking you to take me to meet Robotnik." Sierra paused, crossing her arms. She briefly wondered what Sonic had to do with this dispute. If they're lucky, he won't even know that she and Rouge were on the island. "I want you to take me to the island."

"The…the island?" Rouge asked carefully. Suddenly Knuckles' words echoed loudly in her mind. The girl knew something about the Emeralds that they didn't. Rouge wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not. She will inform the others of everything later, and see if they could piece together any connections. For now, she had a rather troublesome mission on her hands.

With a heavy sigh, Rouge moved to bury her face in her gloved hands. "I believe you're referring to Prison Island?"

Sierra rubbed her eyes, suddenly feeling tired. (The lack of sleep was making itself known) "I don't know what it's called. But you will go there to steal the White Chaos Emerald."

Suddenly feeling ten times more tired than she really was, Sierra decided to stop playing this meaningless mind game. It was time to come to a conclusion.

"Listen, I only saw a small fragment of the future. But, what I saw was terrible." Sierra took a deep breath and leaned her back against the cool glass door. "Please take me with you. I can help you and…." She hesitated slightly but then added, "I want to speak with Shadow."

Rouge's face turned hard and serious. She didn't like the idea.

"You can't be serious. We don't know anything about that hedgehog. How do you know he won't attack you the moment you cross his path."

"Because he already saved my life once."

Sierra didn't have to look to know what kind of expression appeared on the bat's face. She just told Rouge things that no one knew of. Things she herself hardly believed in. Or so she told herself in hopes to get comfort.

Sierra paused her thoughts, blinking her eyes against the vague memory of that forest fire and the island exploding that was pushing itself suddenly to the forefront of her mind, whether she wanted it there or not. Despite how unbearably terrified she was feeling now, she couldn't ignore what she saw. If she does then…..

_They will die._

"Sierra, are you alright?" Rouge's worried voice pulled her abruptly out of her troubled thoughts, and Sierra realised that she was clutching her fingers just a little too tightly over her heart. She let go abruptly, shaking away her confusion as she did so.

"Ah, sorry….I'm alright."

Closing her eyes, Rouge let out a heavy sigh. It seems Chaos isn't smiling on them as of late, or maybe he is, in a strange (involving an innocent human girl in their problems is wrong!) and insane kind of way.

"Alright, as soon as Topaz gives me the Blue Emerald, I'll go visit the old geezer and we'll see how it goes from there." Despite her dismal mood, Rouge managed to crack a smile.

Giving a weak nod, Sierra slid into her chair beside the desk. She leaned her head into the high back of the chair and closed her eyes, feeling as though she could fall asleep then and there. She'd been so tired lately, a symptom, she supposed, of her increasing sense of melancholy.

In all honesty, she had no idea what she was doing. She should have told the others everything that she saw in that vision and they would think of a proper plan on how to approach their current problem. But, no, instead she decided to act on her own, and most likely it will turn to be a mistake, one she will greatly regret later.

Her mind began to drift, quite involuntarily, and somewhere through her haze of thoughts was a pair of dark, blood red eyes staring at her that said a million different things and yet said nothing.

"Sierra."

Sierra's eyes snapped open at the sound of Rouge's soft voice. She gave the bat her full attention.

"I don't know what you saw, but by the look on your face, I can tell it was something disturbing." Rouge said, her gaze was soft, yet firm at the same time. "But tell me, why do you want to speak with that criminal hedgehog?"

Sierra looked away, her brow furrowing. The stupid thing was…she had no idea. She just had this overwhelming feeling; her subconscious was begging her to find out more about that hedgehog and it seems it didn't care that the said hedgehog was working with a dangerous scientific madman who wants to take over the world. Still, a part of her remained torn between craving to know more and isolation.

_Yes, something is definitely wrong with me. _It was the only reasonable explanation she came up with. She didn't know how to explain this to the bat, her reasons were stupidly ridiculous. She decided to summarise this as simple as possible.

"Yesterday, during the rainstorm, he saved me from being hit by a truck." Sierra gathered her thoughts before continuing. "And later that day, I found him in the city, in the middle of a fight with Sonic."

"Unbelievable," the bat looked genuinely shocked. She faced the girl with a serious look, "Do you happen to know where Sonic is now?"

Sierra's shoulders slumped. "The police got him. They took him to that island, 'Prison Island' you called it?" She remembered seeing a prison cell, where Sonic was held captive, and the future fight between the two hedgehogs in the forest. She grimaced at the thought of being caught up in the crossfire. She thanked the heavens that she was able to stop their previous battle in the city. Sonic was already hurt when she arrived; it only proved that they were seriously ready to tear each others heads off.

Sierra briefly closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This will be problematic. If Sonic finds her on the island, he won't let her come anywhere near the black hedgehog. And he's sure as hell won't listen to her poor excuses to have a friendly chat with their enemy.

"Alright hon, let's make a deal." Rouge jumped to her feet and walked over to Sierra. "I will take you with me to Prison Island, but you have to keep it between us." Despite her discontent, she offered the girl a trustful smile.

Sierra eyed the bat carefully. "I thought you came here to tell your friends all about your secret mission?"

Rouge smiled meekly and turned towards the balcony door. "I did. But now, it's best if they don't get involved in this." _They still will..._The bat stopped, halfway through the door. "If everything goes according to plan, we'll be going to Prison Island tomorrow. I'll come for you, so be ready."

Rouge paused when she stepped outside, then without turning, she said…

"I hope you know what you're doing."

Sierra heard a faint sound of wings spreading, and then all went quiet. She sighed, turning her attention towards the silent balcony.

_Yeah….me too._

…**.**

That evening Sierra decided to go visit Tails and the others. She wanted to see them, to talk to them and maybe, if she's lucky, to convince them not to go to Prison Island. She knew that, if she doesn't give them a good reason not to go save their friend and team leader, they will ignore her request. And unfortunately, she doesn't know what to say without telling them about her vision.

She shook her head sadly. It doesn't matter what she says, they won't listen.

Her feet were as heavy as her heart as she made her way towards her grandfather's garage house. Her heart began to race nervously as she neared the familiar garage doors. She quietly slipped inside and found the small fox genius working on the X-Tornado.

Sierra remained silent as Tails continued to work on his plane, completely unaware of her presence. Sierra found her current situation ironically funny. A few months ago she would have burst into the garage, blurt out whatever she needed to say and leave without sparing a glance. Now, all she wanted was to disappear from sight, lock herself in her room and pretend that everything she saw and knew was just another bad dream and nothing more.

Tension hung in the awkward silence as the minutes crawled by. Finally, Tails peered out from the engine he was working on and noticed Sierra standing by the garage door, looking like she desperately wanted to be somewhere else but was forced to stay where she is now. "Oh, hello Sierra. When did you get here?"

Sierra averted his gaze, studying the ground before her feet. "Oh, just now."

"Why haven't you gone to bed yet?" Sierra asked, when she noticed that all the lights upstairs were out.

"I need to do a few adjustments on the X-Tornado." Tails said. "Greg found out where Sonic is. The police caught him and took him to a place called Prison Island." The fox sounded uneasily. "He also said he saw Sonic fighting a black hedgehog in the city. It was that hedgehog who stole the Emerald, not Sonic."

Sierra folded her arms and pretended to be genuinely surprised. "Is that hedgehog from your world?"

Tails shrugged. "I don't know. He might be," he conceded, "but then, how did he get caught in Chaos Control? And why didn't he reveal himself sooner? Unless…," he paused to glance at Sierra, "unless Eggman has something to do with this."

They looked at each other in silence for a strangely long time, before Sierra looked away.

"You're planning to go to Prison Island, aren't you?" she asked even though she already knew the answer.

"Yeah, I am." the fox admitted. "Tomorrow, me and Amy are going to meet up with Knuckles, and the three of us are going to save Sonic. While I distract the guards, Knuckles will enter the base and-"

"Don't go to that island."

"Huh?" Tails blinked at the sudden demand. He eyed the girl carefully; she looked surprised by her own words. Before he could ask, she began to speak.

"If the police decided to lock up Sonic on that island, then obviously the island will be strongly guarded," she sounded desperate, but she was never good with words. She feared he won't listen. "I know you and your friends are strong, and I want to believe it will go smoothly and you will rescue Sonic and escape unharmed, but…." She was trying to find the right words, but was failing miserably. "It won't be easy. The military won't make it easy for you. They will open fire, send out their jet planes; it will be an arsenal of military weapons against one plane." She said, struggling with herself. "Please reconsider."

She became quiet, and looked at him expectantly.

Tails shuffled uncomfortably. He'd been wondering when somebody was going to bring that up. He was well aware of the danger. In fact, they all were. The whole rescue mission wasn't anything new to them. They had lots of those in the past; usually Eggman was involved in all of them. But now, despite the familiarity in the situation, something was vastly different this time. The situation felt….sinister. For as intelligent as he was, Eggman had made a regular habit of revealing his plans to them, but now all they got was a mysterious black hedgehog, who might or might not work with Eggman and hold one of the Chaos Emeralds in his possession.

Things did seem more complicated this time.

Tails found himself smiling. "Thank you, Sierra. I know you're worried, I'm worried as well. But, we'll be taking two Emeralds with us. With their power we don't have to worry about being shot down by the military."

Sierra's frown deepened slightly. She knew he wouldn't listen. At this point telling him the truth would be pointless. He won't believe her.

"Alright, be it your way." Sierra said; her tone surprisingly calm. "But please, be ready for the unexpected. I think at this point, anything can happen. Robotnik might appear on the island. The black hedgehog might be there as well….."

"The island could explode." She added, looking hesitant.

To avoid any questions, Sierra turned to leave. "Get some rest Tails. Tomorrow will be a tough day." She left the garage before Tails could ask her what she meant.

It was unlikely, but to him, it looked as though Sierra was hiding something. It was probably his imagination. Because if something was bothering her, she would tell him.

She was just worried. They all were.

…**.**

_What does it mean to be called a "shadow"? _

_A "shadow" can suggest several things. __It can be an area where direct__light__from a light source cannot reach due to obstruction by an object. T__o be "a shadow of your former self" may imply that you aren't the person you once were. But bearing a name "Shadow"…suggests that a person is dark, mysterious, cold and…different._

_It never bothered him to be different. But, Maria…._

_Maria never wanted to be different._

"_Grandpa says that the world doesn't accept things as a blessing when they're strange or different. That's why we're all here, in the ARK. I don't quite understand." She spoke in a soft voice; her eyes never left the blue world behind the glass window. _

_"He says people are afraid of things they don't understand. They don't know if it's good or bad, benign or malicious…they find comfort in the knowledge that something won't hurt them. When they see something new, they don't know if it means them harm or not. They will willingly push away anything 'different' to prevent the possibility of being hurt."_

"_Your Grandfather is wise." He said, a quiet smile on his features._

"_But, I….I…." Maria gave a sad sigh. "I don't want to be different. Why can't I be like everyone else? I don't want to be hated because I'm different!" _

_Shadow finally looked to her. "We are each gifted in a unique and important way. It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light."_

"_Does it ever bother you that you are different? I mean appearance and your special powers?" She asked while trying very hard not to meet Shadow's gaze. She felt really uncomfortable asking him this. He wasn't human and she was afraid that maybe she offended him by pointing out just how 'different' he really is. She knew Shadow was special. Her grandfather told her that he created the dark hedgehog in order to find a way to cure her, so of course he was special. Shadow was her lifeline._

_But others may not think the way she does. _

"_From my perspective, being different is tough, but at the same time, it is amazing."_

_Maria blinked in surprise. "Amazing?" _

"_People will always criticize no matter what you do." Shadow chuckled. "Just because I look different, it doesn't make me less human than you. It doesn't make me evil. Being different- being yourself- means being free….."_

"…_.It feels amazing."_

"**BOOM**"

Something exploded in the lab, bringing Shadow to complete attention. His entire body tensed as he whirled and scanned the room, prepared for an attack. But then he slackened, the dangerous fire in his eyes extinguishing when he realised it was only the doctor's stupid messenger robot.

Through the black smoke he noticed something white moving towards Dr. Robotnik. A frown crossed his features, but he didn't move. He continued to watch.

"What is your business here bat? Robotnik demanded skeptically.

The bat hesitated, before choosing a careful answer. "I've heard that you might need my assistance." Not waiting for Robotnik's reply, Rouge hid her gloved hand in the rose bouquet and pulled out the precious Blue Chaos Emerald. _I'm sorry Sonic, _she thought bitterly as she held the Emerald before Robotnik's face. _I will try to keep your Emerald safe._

"Well, well," the doctor seemed genuinely surprised. "You're wiling to give the Emerald to me? Just like that?"

"I might be able to tell you where the other Chaos Emerald is…..so let's make a deal." Rouge let her gaze wander around the lab, before she found the object of all their problems. The black hedgehog…..

_Sierra said his name is Shadow. _The dark hedgehog turned away from the bat. It didn't look like he wanted to talk to her. _Let's see if the girl is right. _

Robotnik's eyes narrowed as he thought over Rouge's proposal. "That depends. What do _you _want?"

A sly smile came from the bat as she looked back at the human. "All in due time doctor." She looked back over at the hedgehog and, though he wasn't facing her, that didn't stop her from addressing him.

"My name is Rouge the Bat. And you are?"

Remaining silent for a few seconds, the hedgehog eventually answered. "It's Shadow." He turned around and faced her. Eyes hard and ruby red; face painfully familiar…...

_Haven't I seen you somewhere before?_

"Shadow The Hedgehog."


	21. Intuition

**A/N.: **It's finally finished...

Oh how I hate this chapter, it's so...blah! I can't stand it, but I'll let you judge my work, dear readers.

I'm so sorry. I know everyone has been waiting patiently for this chapter, so here you go. I made it extra long, so I hope you'll enjoy it.

Thank you so much for liking this story, it really means a lot. Thank you for all of the reviews, it was so nice to read them all and see what all of you think about the story.

Thank you so very much!

Please enjoy!

* * *

_Take all chance if there's a chance. Don't waste every moment because next time is too far and last time is too late._

* * *

**Year 1941**

_The faint whisper of the table fan was the only sound in the room. The soft glow from the nearest lamp illuminated the whole paper and book cowered desk. The only inhabitant of the room was sitting hunched over a science book, his face buried in his hands. After hours of peace and quiet, someone finally entered the scientist's office. _

"_Grandfather, __are you still working?__"_

_The old scientist curiously turned around and found his young 16-year-old grandson standing by the door._

_Taking off his glasses the old man gave a tired smile, "Ah no, Ivo, I decided to do some light reading before going home." _

_Ivo tilted his head to one side a little and raised his eyebrow. For months now his grandfather was trying to invent something new, create something unique and useful for his country, but so far his experiments and long-hour researches gave no results. Ivo, between his studies and home chores, tried to spend as much time with his grandfather as he could. _

_His grandfather, Gerald Robotnik, was considered as one of the greatest scientists in the States, and because of him, Ivo's love for science was born. He wanted to someday become just like his grandfather. He knew he wasn't as smart and talented as his grandfather was in his teenage days, but he still held hope that if he studied hard enough and tried his very best, he would one day become a famous scientist just like his grandfather. _

_That was his dream, and he was prepared to go to great lengths just to achieve his goal. _

"_How is the research going?" Ivo asked curiously. _

_Gerald rolled his eyes and waved his hand at the scattered papers on his desk. __"Same old, same old. __We're not going anywhere with this so-called new medicine. If what, we're wasting our time trying to improve something that doesn't need improvement."_ _Gerald let out a tired sigh and rubbed his tired eyes. _

"_Don't worry, grandfather. I'm sure you'll soon get a new project to work on." Ivo said and wrapped an arm around his grandfather fondly._

_Gerald chuckled softly, "Oh, I really hope so, my boy." _

_There was a vaguely comfortable silence between the two for a few long minutes until Ivo spoke up. _

"_My summer vacation starts next week and father said I can spend the whole summer with you." Ivo's_ _smile was wide and brilliant._

_That won a smile from Gerald; his tired eyes brightened upon hearing the good news, "Excellent. My old and lonely house will feel livelier with you around and when my subordinates go home, at the end of the day, you and I will have the entire lab to ourselves." _

"_I'm looking forward to it, grandfather." Ivo said, grinning._

"_By the way, are you aware that in a few months your cousin will be born?" Gerald asked suddenly. _

_Ivo nodded, "Yes, I know. Uncle Noel called father a few weeks ago and said that they will be having a girl. Do you know what her name will be?"_

_Gerald shook his head, "No I don't. Noel said that Mary had a few ideas but that's all I know." He briefly glanced at the clock on his desk and his eyes widened in surprise._

"_Oh my, look how late it is. We better be getting home. Your father will arrive to pick you up tomorrow morning. What will he say when the two of us will be too tired to get out of bed in the morning." Gerald said jokingly while slowly rising from his chair. _

_After turning off the lights and locking the office door, the two prepared to go home. _

"_He will scold us for going to bed late and not getting a good night rest." Ivo stated, rolling his eyes, as he followed his grandfather down the long hallway towards the exit. _

_Gerald laughed softly under his breath. "Yes, well, going to bed early and getting a good night rest is for military men like him. We scientist's rarely sleep, no?"_

_Ivo grinned widely. "You're right. Father and I usually find you asleep on your desk rather than in your bed." _

_The two of them laughed good-heartedly as they made their way towards the parking lot._

_Ivo couldn't wait for summer vacation to start._

**1 week later**

_A whole week went by since he last saw his grandfather. He was so excited to be back in the city. He waited a whole year for this summer. Living with his grandfather for three months was like a blessing for him. He would finally be able to leave his everyday worries behind him and enjoy a good summer vacation doing what he enjoyed most and with the one person he loved the most. _

_If only he knew of the disaster that would come to him that day..._

_Ivo arrived at his grandfather's house at noon. Gerald was already at work, so Ivo left his luggage at home and went straight to the college where his grandfather's laboratory was. _

_Upon arriving at the lab, Ivo was greeted by a few of his grandfather's subordinates. They all seemed to be very busy; running from lab to lab, from office to office, carrying stacks of papers and other lab equipment. Something interesting and exiting must have happened for everyone to be this lively during the day. _

_When Ivo arrived at Gerald's office, he found his grandfather digging through a pile of papers on his desk. Upon finding what he was looking for, Gerald went to leave but stopped when he saw his grandson standing by the door. A bright smile appeared on his face and he quickly went to his grandson's side. _

"_Come with me. I want to show you something." Were Gerald's only worlds. _

_Ivo blinked in confusion but let his grandfather take him wherever he wanted to go. Gerald took Ivo to the main research lab. Ivo scanned the empty lab with curious, yet confused, eyes before turning to his grandfather for answers. _

_Gerald ignored the puzzled look his grandson was giving him and instead went to the back of the lab where a strange, capsule-like machine was pressed against the wall. When Gerald reached the capsule he glanced inside and motioned for Ivo to come closer. Ivo observed the capsule from afar; the glass was covered with frost from within and the cold fog made it impossible to see what was inside the capsule. _

_Filled with curiosity and wonder, Ivo slowly made his way towards the 'glass coffin.' What he saw inside, scared and thrilled him at the same time. The creature was black in colour, with red stripes on its head, arms and legs. Its cat-like ears and head-spikes made it hard for Ivo to tell what kind of animal it was. _

"_W-what is that... creature, grandfather?"Ivo asked, sounding almost hesitant. _

"_He is a hedgehog, Ivo."Gerald replied, practically glowing with excitement, "An artificial processed transgenic hedgehog. Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Lifeform." _

_Ivo's momentary surprise shifted to absolute delight as a wide smile lit up his face. "You created a new Lifeform grandfather! And in less than a week!?" His gaze was jumping from the hedgehog to his grandfather and back again. "How is that even possible?" _

"_That hedgehog is proof that anything is possible with science, my boy." Gerald replied softly. _

"_But how did you..."_

"_I managed to create a very...unusual sort of gemstone that produces a self-replicating energy. It helped me create Shadow." Gerald pointed to the other end of the lab where a glass-shaped box stood covered by a black cloth, hiding the gemstone from view. _

"_How is that even possible, grandfather? A gemstone that can create life? It sounds like something from a fairytale book. How did you manage to create such a stone?" Ivo spoke with awe in his voice. The teenager in him wanted to believe that all this was done by some kind of supernatural magic, but the scientist in him spoke differently: it was impossible to create life with a mere gemstone. _

"_I am sorry, but I cannot tell you that, Ivo." Gerald apologized and looked away from his grandson, "Only I know how the Chaos Emerald came to be, and I prefer for it to remain a secret." His tone suddenly became slightly...darker. _

"'_Chaos Emerald?' Is that what you call it? Why so...disastrous?"Ivo asked vaguely, "Why not naming it 'the Life Stone' or something like that? Did it not create life?" _

"_Well, in Greek mythology the term 'Chaos' had been adopted in religious studies as referring to the primordial state before creation. And I believe from 'Chaos' the universe was created. Overall, there are a few other myths and legends including 'Chaos' and 'beginning of life.'" Gerald explained as he kept his gaze fixed on the sleeping hedgehog. _

"_Wow...that's really deep, grandfather." Ivo said in amazement, though a bad feeling washed over him. "If not for the proof before my eyes, I would never believe that it's possible to create a new life. What will that hedgehog be like? Will he speak our language or understand us at all?"_

_Ivo wanted to know as much as he could about his grandfather's newest creation. The more his grandfather told him, the more confused he got. The hedgehog looked amazing, but the old saying 'looks can be deceiving' left him with mixed feelings. _

"_I...don't know yet. I hope he will walk, talk, think and act as a regular human being. It's still too soon to say." Gerald replied, looking unsure of himself. _

"_Listen, Ivo, there is something important I need to tell you." Gerald was very still for a moment, then turned to look at his grandson._

"_What is it, grandfather?"Ivo asked hesitantly. The sad look his grandfather was giving him troubled him slightly. He was preparing for the worst. _

"_G.U.N. - the Guardian Unit of the Nation, already knows about Shadow, and they offered me a new lab on their island base, with access to better equipment and resources. In the following week, I will be moving out of this lab." Gerald offered Ivo a sad smile as he continued, "But, that's not all. G.U.N. is offering me a new project that will be taking place on a Space Colony called ARK. They want me to take Shadow there for further research, but I'm hesitant to do so. I'm willing to except their offer and continue my research on their island base, but that is all. I do not think that me taking Shadow and the Chaos Emerald to space is a good idea." _

_All this time Ivo was listening closely to his grandfathers words, while mixed emotions ran through him. He was happy for his grandfather, he really was, but if he leaves for the island then they won't be able to see each other us frequently us they could now. Ivo tried to push the sadness away; his grandfather managed to create something 'out-of-this-world,' this was his chance to prove to everyone that Gerald Robotnik is the greatest scientist in the world. _

_Swallowing his sadness, Ivo smiled at his beloved grandfather, "That's great news grandfather. While on the island, you'll be able to work on the hedgehog in peace without having to worry about someone from the College staff finding out about him." _

_Gerald nodded, "You are right. No one except G.U.N., my subordinates and a few others that I trust should know about Shadow and the emerald. I told you this because I trust you, Ivo, and I hope you will keep that secret."_

_Ivo replied immediately, "Of course I will, grandfather! No one will know about the hedgehog and the stone, not even father." _

_Gerald smiled and nodded in approval. _

"_Good." _

_..._

_That same day, when the sun had already disappeared from the sky, Ivo decided to sneak into the main laboratory to get a closer look on the life-giving emerald and the black hedgehog. He knew that Gerald was in one of the other labs down the hall and won't be leaving his work place for another good hour. All the other scientists had already left; there was no one around to stop him. _

_He quietly entered the dark lab and looked around to make sure that he was indeed alone in the room. After scanning the lab a few more times, Ivo made his way to the cloth-covered grass case. Upon closer look, Ivo noticed something strange. When he first entered the lab, and noticed the softly-glowing glass case, he thought that the light was coming from the case itself, but upon closer look, he saw that it was the gemstone glowing from inside the case. _

_Ivo yanked the cloth of the case and gasped when he saw the glowing stone. The emerald was perfectly shaped, big enough to fully grasp it in your hand and the intense green colour only made it look more magical. _

_Ivo stared at the gem in pure awe. As beautiful and majestic as the gem looked, Ivo couldn't imagine his grandfather creating such a jewel. An emerald that can give life: it was unheard of. Ivo wasn't accusing his grandfather of lying, but life-giving gemstones and mutant hedgehogs created in less than a week was a little hard to believe. _

_Frowning, Ivo went to open the glass case to take a better look at the emerald. When he opened the lid the emerald flashed like a firecracker before returning back to normal. Ivo paused in his movements, but when the emerald didn't react anymore he slowly reached his hand inside to touch it. _

_Ivo soon realised that touching the emerald was a huge mistake._

_The emerald began to glow more brightly than before, making Ivo gasp and cover his eyes. The white glow swallowed him whole; he couldn't see anything, nor hear anything around him. He figured he didn't actually__want_ _to see where he was, but when he felt a sharp stab in his heart, his eyes flew open. _

_It was white all around him; the lab he was in just moments ago, disappeared and only white nothingness remained. Another painful wave washed over his body and Ivo found the courage to look down. _

_He screamed in horror at the sight. _

_The ground was mirror-like and it perfectly reflected his new appearance. He looked tall, about 180cm maybe more. His hands and feet were bigger and his belly looked like an egg-shaped balloon. He slowly raised his big hands and gently touched his horrible aged face. His brown hair was gone: he became bald. His face now had a few wrinkles and under his big potato-like nose, was a long, bushy moustache._

_Ivo screamed again and jumped back, almost tripping over his torn clothes. _

"_What in God's name, happened to me?" _

_His hand immediately flew to cover his mouth. His voice changed; it became deeper and older. _

_Like the rest of his body, everything in him aged over forty, maybe more, years and that included his intellect. He was suddenly painfully aware of knowing things that he never knew before: Geographic Analysis and Mapping, Advanced Analysis, Analytical Chemistry, Biomedical Engineering, Mathematical Statistics and so on. _

_Ivo felt panic wash over him, the thought that he would not be able to return to school, then go to college, get a degree, make something of his life, hurt the way an invisible fist squeezing his insides together might. Only a sliver of dimly realized determination prevented him from being swallowed up by the pain. Maybe it was stubbornness. Maybe it was courage. Maybe it was a rock-headed, foot-planted, tantrum screaming desire telling him that he will survive this, absurd magic and shining gemstones be damned._

_Ivo's inner turmoil was cut short as the blinding white light swallowed him once gain. The first thing Ivo heard, was the sound of birds singing somewhere around him. He felt the warm wind caress his skin and after a few calm breaths, he forced his eyes to open. _

_Ivo briefly wondered if he might have lost his mind. _

_He was in the middle of a forest; lush greenery and beauty surrounded him from all around. The first thing that crossed his mind was: how he survived teleportation? Was it even possible for a human to teleport? Was it absurd to even think about such a thing?_

_He looked around slowly and noticed a path leading, what he guessed was, the way out of the forest. Could this be a sign of civilization? With that thought, Ivo slowly made his way down the path. A short stroll later, he saw lights. They came from what seemed like small houses. It was a village. _

_Though unsure and suspicious, Ivo slowly moved towards the village. When the houses were close, he stopped. _

"_H-hello?" He called out nervously. "Is anyone there?"_

_A few painfully-long minutes passed and he didn't get a reply. He was about to go further, but the sound of several voices froze him to the spot. He looked around and saw two small figures walking towards the village. He soon realised that something was terribly wrong with the two figures. _

_Ivo Robotnik was aghast to see the people walking towards him weren't human at all despite them wearing clothes. One looked like a creamy-brown bulldog, the other was a little hard to tell, but Ivo guessed it was a white mink. The two were small compared to him; somewhere between 4 and 5 feet in height. _

_With no time to spare, Ivo dashed towards the trees, in hopes of hiding from the strange creatures. As the animals passed him, the only thought that crossed his mind was..._

"_Where...the hell am I?"_

_... _

For years he lived on a planet populated by anthropomorphic animals. He wasted so much time in hopes of finding his way back home on Earth, when one day he filially realized that it wasn't worth it anymore. If he somehow did manage to return, there would have been nothing waiting for him back home. His all family must have died out, and even though he didn't know exactly how much time went by, he figured it must have been a lot.

He buried his hopes of ever returning back home, so when it finally did happen; when he finally managed to return, he couldn't help but wonder about his family.

Nothing could have prepared him for the bitter truth.

His father, United States Army Captain Leon Robotnik, ended his own life in year 1951.

His uncle, G.U.N.'s scientist Noel Robotnik, was executed because of a conspiracy against the county in year 1951.

His uncle's wife, Mary Robotnik, died a few weeks after giving birth to her daughter because of weak health in year 1941.

And his grandfather, his beloved grandfather...

"That was really impressive, Doctor."

Dr. Robotnik looked down at the monitor screen; his expression was blank and unreadable.

"I didn't expect to return to this island." Robotnik replied, looking slightly frustrated. Banishing the bitter memories from his thoughts, he gave his full attention to his two assistants.

"I am surprised at how easy you infiltrated G.U.N's base a second time, Doctor." Decoe complimented the doctor.

"Are you ready to start the next phase of your plan, Doctor?" Bocoe asked eagerly.

Robotnik briefly glanced at the sky, then back at the monitor. "Might as well. No point in waiting any longer." He ended the call with his assistants and sent a signal to summon Rouge and Shadow.

Rouge and Shadow...

Those two names left a bitter taste in his mouth. He had no trust in them whatsoever, but despite his dislike, they were a useful tool in his plans for revenge. The bat, though strong-minded and cunning, was nothing more than a scared little girl, whose greatest fear was to be abandoned and unwanted by her so-called new friends. The black hedgehog, on the other hand, was a whole different story.

In the short time, that Robotnik spent around Shadow, he came to know the hedgehog as a loner; a self-proclaimed Ultimate Lifeform with a God complex and a nasty temper.

Robotnik chuckled half-heartedly. After years of studying the Chaos Emeralds, he came to a conclusion that the emeralds were seven ancient relics of great power, and though they were capable of warping time and powering his machines, they were not capable of giving life.

His grandfather lied to him about creating Shadow. It was impossible to create a living being with a Chaos Emerald, with only one and in a week at that.

Robotnik guessed that Shadow must have used Chaos Control to come to Earth. That would also explain of him having no memories about his home planet. As Robotnik realised, there was always a price to pay for using Chaos Powers. When he was teleported to Mobius, he lost his youth, but he gained high intellect. Same must have been for Shadow. He gained Chaos Powers, but lost all memoires of his previous life.

All in all, it was only a theory, but there was one thing he was absolutely sure of.

Shadow the hedgehog was not created by human hands.

A light breeze blew through the silent forest and Robotnik's cold laugh was the only sound carried by the wind.

...

The forest was quiet.

It wasn't something Sierra was used to, walking down the lush forest with her bat companion and not hearing a single forest sound. If she didn't knew better, she would have thought that the entire island was abandoned, but she guessed that everyone, every soldier and scientist, was in the centre of the island; inside the big, grey, concrete prison.

Walking through the forest should have been a lot less painful too. In fact, if it wasn't for the boiling fear for everyone's safety, Sierra would have been enjoying herself completely. She accidently stepped on a fallen branch and it snapped under her weight, sending a flock of startled birds flying, which startled her greatly. Her eyes widened and her breathing stopped.

"You okay?" Rouge asked when she saw the Sierra come to a shuddering stop.

Sierra took a deep breath and let it out as slowly as she could. "Yeah, I'm fine." She lied.

If Sierra was completely honest with herself, she was anything but 'fine' at that moment. She was scared (and let's face it, who wouldn't be in her place), and absurdly excited. As insane as it was deep down she was really happy, because this was her chance to do something different, something out of the ordinary, something _exciting. _She was painfully aware of the danger she was putting herself in and the grim consequences that could, and probably would, follow.

But she found herself not caring about the fate that might bestow upon her.

"So, what do we do now?" Sierra asked in a forced calm voice, her eyes narrowed as she scanned the woods around them while nervously fiddling with the hem of her frilled black skirt.

"Eggman will contact me when he reaches the island," Rouge answered, "in the mean time, we wait." The bat then took a deep breath and turned to face Sierra, fixing her sharp gaze on the girl.

"May I ask you something," without waiting for Sierra's reply the bat continued her question. "Why are you going so far just to talk to that hedgehog?" she asked with honest curiosity.

"I...don't really know." Sierra suddenly found herself at a loss for words. She felt terrible for not having an adequate excuse for her actions. "I just have this feeling that I _have_ to help him...because..."

"...because he saved your life, you feel the need to repay him somehow." Rouge finished the sentence.

"I don't think that's it," Sierra said quietly. "I mean, I _am _grateful to him for saving me, but I don't think that's the reason why I want to help him." Sierra forced herself to look at the bat, though it was hard for her to keep eye contact. "I don't know his story, or his reasons for teaming up with Dr. Robotnik, but I believe we still have a chance to stop him before something terrible happens."

Sierra lowered her gaze unable to look at Rouge any longer. She didn't expect the bat to understand her; even she had troubles understanding her own mind. It felt as if a tiny little voice inside her, told her that the black hedgehog was innocent and that he was just a victim in Robotnik's plans for world domination. That 'voice' was painful however, (she called it her subconscious) and Sierra had to distract herself every time it whispered to her in an effort to make a valid point. She blamed the Chaos Emeralds for her troubles. The visions that she saw and the emotions that swiped her afterwards, had left her with mixed feelings. She was well aware of the huge risk she was taking, but something deep inside her heart, some kind of unexplained feeling, assured her that in the end everything will be alright.

Sierra decided to keep her inner thoughts and feelings to herself for the time being.

A painful silence fell between the two and Sierra was grateful when it was shattered by the softly beeping sound coming from Rouge's communicator. Rouge raised her wrist to take a look. It beeped twice.

It was time to begin.

...

Sonic had a tight grip on the bars at the front of his cell. He had his face pressed against two of the bars as he looked around, taking in the environment outside his cell.

Water surrounded him no matter where he looked, save for one scribbled wall in his cage. He had to give the soldiers some credit; they found a perfect prison for him, from which he wouldn't be able to escape without some assistance. Thought he would have gladly accepted any help given if it meant getting out of his water prison as soon as possible.

_If I don't get out of here soon, I'm afraid that I'll develop claustrophobia alongside my already present aquaphobia, _Sonic thought with a soft chuckle.

He slowly turned around and settled his gaze on the scribbled wall behind him. The strange, half-demolished wall looked out of place inside the water cell. The half-faded writing on it, told him nothing; it was just a bunch of numbers and scientific formulas. From what he managed to gather about Prison Island, it was once a secret military base, but was later shut down and remade into a prison to sustain the country's most dangerous fugitives. Sonic could only imagine what kind of dangerous people were locked up on the island in the past.

A few minutes went by and Sonic decided to focus his attention on his cell lock. The lock itself was weak; it would have been no trouble for him to break out of the cell had it not been for the water. Suddenly looking frustrated and more alone than ever, Sonic went to sit against the scribbled wall. He got comfortable and closed his eyes; his mind wandered to his current problem: the black hedgehog.

"Just...who are you?" Sonic softly murmured to himself.

It wouldn't have bother him so much if the dark hedgehog was just an unfortunate victim of Chaos Control, which was caused when he and his team infiltrated Robotnik's base in hopes of saving Cream. But he wasn't. The black hedgehog was much, much more dangerous than he previously thought. His ability on using the power of a Chaos Emerald was unheard of. It should have been impossible for others to utilize the power of the emeralds unless they have pure Chaos energy in their blood. But if someone did possess such abilities, then that would make them a Chaos Guardian.

_No way..._Sonic slowly sat up straight. Could it really be possible? Could the black hedgehog be one of the lost Guardians?

Sonic relaxed his tense muscles and leaned back against the cell wall as another thought came to him. How was it that Sierra and the black hedgehog knew each other? It was possible that they met when he was absent for a few days, fighting the G.U.N. robots, or maybe...it was Chaos that brought them together...

After the day, when Sierra came in contact with a Chaos Emerald for the first time, Sonic started to feel small waves of Chaos radiating from within her. They were so small, so _tiny_, but they were there.

He previously thought that it may have been just a side effect, after coming in contact with an ancient power, but after Sierra told him about her visions, Sonic pieced together a theory: that maybe Chaos chose Sierra as a link to the mortal world so she could do what he couldn't; bring all the lost Guardians back together. It was only a wild guess, but Sonic was almost certain that it was the truth.

Chaos was using Sierra to find his fallen Guardians.

Sonic blinked slowly, then shook his head to himself, irritated and confused.

"Damn!" his fist hit the wall with a loud bang. _I need to get out of here. I can't waste any more time._

...

With grace and elegance, Rouge softly landed on the ground before Dr. Robotnik. From the corner of her eye she noticed Shadow arriving as well.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting," Rouge said to the doctor while keeping her sharp gaze on the black hedgehog.

Robotnik ignored her comment. "Are you sure that G.U.N. is keeping the emerald on this island?"

Rouge put her hands on her hips and smiled mysteriously. "Whether you believe me or not is up to you."

The doctor looked slightly frustrated at the choice of wording and crossed his arms. "Anyway...let me explain the plan to you." He said bitterly.

"First of all, I'll be the distraction. I'll distract G.U.N. allowing you to sneak into the base undetected," Robotnik took out some sort of small silver device and thrown it at Shadow, who caught it with one hand. "Then, Shadow, you will enter G.U.N.'s armoury core and place the detonator. After that, leave the island."

Shadow nodded and Robotnik turned his attention to Rouge. "You will sneak in unnoticed and steal the emerald from the safe deposit vault."

"Detonator?...are you going to blow up the base?" Rouge asked already fearing the answer.

A malicious grin spread across Robotnik's face and Rouge prepared for the worst. "Not just the base, girl. I'm blowing up the entire island."

Rouge sought to maintain a neutral facade, but inside, she was panicking. _This is awful. I must get Sierra and escape as soon as possible. _

She glanced at Shadow, to see of what was his reaction to the plan, but was greatly disappointed at seeing his blank face and zero emotions. It was as if he didn't care about the people who will perish during the explosion.

"We only have 30 minutes to pull this off... "

Rouge's attention snapped back to Robotnik. There was no going back now. She was ready.

With a sharp nod, both Rouge and Shadow disappeared into the forest.

"We only have one chance...don't fail..."

With that, Robotnik turned around his Eggmobile and flew in the direction of the prison.

...

"Are we there yet, Tails?"

Tails briefly glanced back at Amy, and then turned his attention back on the X-Tornado's radar screen.

"We'll reach Prison Island in three minutes." Tails said, pointing at the small dot that was Prison Island in the distance.

"Ugh, we wasted so much time trying to find the island. Who knows what those soldiers are doing to Sonic right now! What if they're running some sort of tests on him or-"

"Amy, please calm down." Tails cut her off. He couldn't really argue with her logic. She always got jumpy whenever she thought Sonic was in danger, and right now, there was a huge possibility that he was.

"I'm sure Sonic's fine."

"That's easy for you to say!" Amy snapped.

"Actually, no, it's not. I'm worried too. But I'm sure Sonic won't allow anyone to use him as a test subject without a good fight." Tails said, becoming somewhat more serious now.

"Humph. I'll believe it when I see it." Amy said, leaning back in her seat with her arms folded.

Tails remained silent. In all honesty, he couldn't understand what was going on. The sudden appearance of the mysterious black hedgehog had thrown them all of balance. Neither of them knew if the hedgehog was their enemy or their ally, but judging by his fight with Sonic the other night, the chances were that he was against them.

"It looks like we're late for the party, you guys."

Knuckles' voice had snapped Tails out of his thoughts. His eyes widened at the scene that played before him.

The prison was burning. Missiles flew out of the forest and collided with the burning building, filling the already polluted sky with more thick black smoke. The trees, that were closest to the building, had caught the flames and Tails was sure that soon the entire island will turn into a blazing forest fire.

"We don't have time to waste. We have to save Sonic!" Amy snapped again.

"Alright, let's go." Tails said quietly, looking over his shoulder at his two friends.

Shadow and Rouge arrived at the main gates of the prison and waited for Robotnik to arrive and open the entrance for them. A sudden explosion above them made Rouge wince visibly, as the loud booming sound made her sensitive ears hurt. She glanced up and her eyes widened. The X-Tornado was circling the island, looking for a decent place to land.

Rouge began to panic. Her friends mustn't see her together with Shadow and Robontik, if they do; her mission will be done for, as well as their trust and good opinion about her.

"Quickly, get a move on." Robotnik appeared from above and sent one of his missiles at the gates. The gates exploded and crumbled down. Rouge quickly dived inside the smoke before her friends could notice her.

Shadow was about to fallow her inside but a loud cry stopped him.

"Sonic!"

He looked over his shoulder and saw a pink hedgehog running towards him. She stopped halfway when she saw that he wasn't the one she was hoping to see. She stood frozen to the ground until Shadow turned away from her and ran inside the building.

"H-hey you, wait!" Amy called out to late: the black hedgehog had already disappeared inside.

"You pesky animals are always in my way." Robotnik hissed.

"The same goes for you, _Eggman!_" Knuckles roared as he jumped out of the X-Tornado. Robotnik frowned in displeasure.

"Great, more of you." He murmured bitterly.

"Tails, get him out of here." Knuckles yelled to the fox, not turning his gaze away from the doctor.

"On it," Tails said quickly.

Seeing as how he was outnumbered, Robotnik made his escape, with Tails and the X-Tornado close on his tail.

Knuckles turned to Amy, who stood perfectly still with a black expression on her face. "Let's get going. We have to find Sonic." Knuckles said and ran inside the prison. Amy snapped out of whatever trance she was in and quickly ran after Knuckles.

...

Rouge flew down the long corridor at top speed. She always turned wherever she had to; Topaz had already informed her where exactly the safe deposit vault was. She was even prepared for the laser hallway that came her way. As she was getting closer to the vault, the sound of sirens found their way to her. She rounded a corner and stopped when she saw the yellow gates to the vault before her.

She smiled and flew closer. "This is it."

She walked over to the control lock and examined it closely. She entered Topaz's given password and the doors before her opened. Her prize was waiting for her inside.

...

Robotnik's missiles collided with the earth, sending chunks of trees and dirt flying in all different directions. Tails turned around the X-Tornado and fired his attack at the doctor. Robotnik blocked it with his own counterattack. They were playing 'war games' with each other for fifteen minutes already. Neither backed down, and both refused to surrender.

Tails examined the damage that they did to the island. The island was already burning furiously and soldiers were escaping the burning building in small groups, running to their military cars and making their way towards the bridge, which thankfully Robotnik haven't demolished yet. At one point, Tails tried to lead Robotnik away from the island, to avoid unnecessary damage, but the doctor never fallowed him and instead stayed near the island.

The fox couldn't figure out Robotnik's plan. What reasons could the doctor have for being on Prison Island? Surely not to rescue Sonic.

What was it?

What was his plan?

He was so lost in his inner thoughts that he almost flew nose first into Robotnik's Eggmobile. He managed to stop the plane just a few centimetres away from the doctor. Tails let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding, and tried to stop his rapidly beating heart.

"Let's consider this a tie for now," Robotnik mocked a tired expression. "But next time, I won't be so forgiving."

With that said, Robotnik quickly fled the burning island. As Tails watched the doctor disappear in the distance, an odd feeling washed over him. Something wasn't right. His instincts were telling him that something was terribly wrong, and he didn't mean the burning island down below him.

With no other option, Tails went to land the plane near the burning prison.

...

Rouge stood before the snow-white Chaos Emerald, entranced by its pure beauty.

It was the last Chaos Emerald, the last seventh one. Robotnik had two emeralds, Sonic had the other four. Rouge now held the last one in her hands. If only she could steal the other two from Robotnik, then the Sonic Team would finally have all seven of them and they could return back home.

For some odd reason, Rouge felt slightly sad at the thought of leaving planet Earth.

She shook her head of the thoughts as Shadow's voice came from her communicator.

"Doctor, everything is set." Came his smooth voice through the communicator. Rouge was impressed at how calm he was with their current situation. Here she was panicking now and then, where her partner didn't seem to be bothered with their mission in the slightest.

He wasn't bothered by anything, because unlike her, he didn't care about anyone around him.

"Please tell us the scheduled time."

"Set the timer for ten minutes." Replied Robotnik.

"Roger."

As soon as their voices went quiet, Rouge turned to leave the vault, but stopped dead in her tracks. Blocking the door and her only escape was G.U.N.'s security robot: the Flying Dog.

"And here I thought that I'll be making an easy escape."

"Flying Dog reporting to HQ...we have found the invader!" came a human's voice from the speakers. "Commence the attack!"

"Roger!"

"Just wonderful," Rouge murmured, as she ran towards the back wall. Just as the robot fired his lasers, Rouge pushed herself of the wall and delivered a strong side kick to one of the Dog's missile containers. The damaged part fell off and Rouge wasted no time in attacking the robot from the other side.

Another powerful kick to the sides sent the robot flying into the wall. Upon hitting the wall, it exploded, sending bits of metal flying in all different directions and instantly filling the small room with heat and black smoke.

While avoiding the explosion, Rouge failed to notice the heavy gates closing and looking her in. Covering her mouth and nose from the smoke she ran towards the exit only to see the gates closed.

"Oh no..." she murmured. She gave a weak cough and looked around the room. As the smoke cleared, Rouge scanned the room for another exit. There was no escape except for the iron door.

_What am I suppose to do?_

_..._

Amy had no troubles finding Sonic's cell. Just like Tails said to her and Knuckles earlier, his cell should be deep inside the prison building and heavily guarded. It _was _deep inside the prison, but surprising, it wasn't guarded at all. She and Knuckles ran into a few guard-robots on their way and Knuckles stayed behind to fend them off while she went ahead.

When Amy finally reached the cell, she went straight for the control panel by the door. Amy knew she was no computer genius, so the cell code would have been impossible for her alone to break, but thanks to Tails' virus program, which was installed in each of their communicators, she could now break in without any problems.

Amy pulled out a small cord from her communicator and plugged it to the control panel. She pushed a few buttons and the screen flashed yellow. The virus broke the security code and the doors to Sonic's cell opened.

Amy smiled and wasted no time to run inside. The moment she went in, a long glass corridor started to stretch itself towered the centre of the room. Amy gasped at the sight of the room. It reminded her of something Dr. Robotnik would have: a giant room filled with water and a prison cell in the middle.

When the glass corridor came to a halt and the doors opened, the first thing Amy saw was Sonic standing behind bars. He was surprised to see her.

"Amy?" Sonic looked generously surprised, "Finally, the cavalry has arrived."

Amy giggled and raised her hammer. "Let's get you out of there."

Suddenly Sonic's expression changed and his eyes widened in alarm. "Amy, behind you!"

Just when Amy turned to look what was behind her, it went flying straight passed her and crashed into Sonic's cell. Slightly startled, Amy jumped back a little. She blinked slowly as Knuckles walked passed her and stopped near the broken guard-robot that almost launched a surprise attack on her.

"Ah, so there you are," the echidna said, looking irritable. "I just knew the humans would lock you up somewhere where you couldn't get out without someone's help."

"Nice to see you too," Sonic retorted.

"Don't be smart with me right now! We have to get out of here before the building burns down!"

Sonic looked taken back, realizing the full significance of the situation. "You set the building on fire?"

"Not us!" Knuckles continued harshly. "Eggman's here on the island, and the black hedgehog is with him as well."

"Hey, cool it," Sonic said, trying to wrap his mind on the new information. "Have you seen them?"

"Tails went after Eggman in the X-Tornado, while the black hedgehog went inside the prison." Amy explained.

Sonic frowned and folded his arms. "Why are they here on the island?"

"Let's worry about that when we get out of here." With a powerful blow, Knuckles punched the metal cell door open.

"Thanks. And yeah, let's get out of here." With haste, the three turned and ran down the hall. As soon as they left the cell room, the alarm went off. The halls went red and all the doors started to slowly close.

Sonic quickly grabbed Amy's hand. "Run!"

They managed to pass four doors but the fifth one closed right in front of them. Knuckles wasted no time and punched the doors with all of his might, but the doors remained intact. Knuckles growled and tried again. Not even a scratch appeared.

"It's no use," Sonic said while taking a few steps back from the door. "Maybe if all three of us tried attacking at the same time the door will break."

Knuckles sighed and raised his right fist, preparing for a blow. "Let's try it."

Before the three Mobian's could break down the door, the control panel on the wall next to them exploded and the iron door opened. The three slowly stepped forward, half expecting it to be some kind of trap, before Sonic saw the all too familiar electronic paper planes of his little brother, sabotaging the security system so he and the others could escape without a problem.

"What's happening?" Amy asked, moving to hide behind Sonic in case of an attack.

Sonic smiled and reached behind him to take Amy's hand. "Don't worry. It's Tails. He's helping us escape."

Sonic continued to run down the hall, pulling Amy with him, with Knuckles fallowing close behind. After turning a few corners, the group finale reached the exit. Upon exiting the building they were greeted by Tails.

"You made it!" Tails exclaimed happily.

Sonic smiled down at him. "Good job, guys."

"We should get out of here," Knuckles said quietly, looking at the burning prison.

Sonic was about to reply, when suddenly he was struck by a wave of enormous energy-Chaos Energy. He blinked slowly and looked towards the forest. The energy was coming from the forest, from a Chaos Emerald, but not just any emerald, the all too familiar energy was coming from the blue emerald, _his _Chaos Emerald.

After all the months spent on Earth, it was the first time that Sonic felt the presence of his own emerald. He first thought that maybe his emerald was lost in another continent, far away for him to feel its presence, but now it suddenly appeared like it was always there right under his nose.

Everything seemed to be getting out of control.

"Not yet." Sonic said. "All of you stay here and be ready to take off. I'm going to look for that black hedgehog." Not waiting for a respond, Sonic ran off.

...

Shadow raced through the forest, making his escape, when his path was blocked by his blue foe.

"So, we meet again," Sonic smirked at his opponent. "What do you say we finish out previous...quarrel."

Shadow smirked back. "You have an exaggerated opinion of your abilities."

The two clashed together. Sonic ran at Shadow pulling his fist back and swinging hard. Shadow ducked down, easily dogging the blow, and aimed his own fist at Sonic's stomach. Sonic leaped over him, landed on the ground and kicked Shadow in the back. Shadow stumbled slightly and quickly turned around only to receive a full force punch in the face.

Coughing, Shadow slowly stood up.

"Who are you?" Sonic asked, not really expecting a straight answer from his opponent.

A small smile appeared on Shadow's face. "Someone more powerful than you'll ever be."

Sonic growled and leaped up, curling into a ball. He spun so fast the wind around him was pressurized into blade-like shapes, which slashed into Shadow. Shadow doubled over, flinching from the blow, giving Sonic a chance to attack him again using his Homing Attack.

Though injured, Shadow quickly stood up. The two leaped into the air and spun into balls, using friction to come at each other with lightning speed. The two hedgehogs ricocheted against each other like pinballs, each side trying to overcome the other. The last blow they exchanged caused Shadow to fly up into the air. He quickly unrolled and came down straight at Sonic, kicking him like a soccer ball to the ground.

"Off!" Sonic grunted as he stood up and wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth. "You're good."

Suddenly Sonic took off and before Shadow knew, Sonic had his arm twisted behind his back and he was shoved face first into a tree.

"But I consider myself to be better." Shadow couldn't see the others face, but he could hear the smirk that graced it.

"Now, while I have your full attention, tell me, from where do you know Sierra?" Sonic asked, his tone was unreadable, but Shadow could tell that if he chooses not to reply he will be showed harder into the tree.

"You're talking about the girl who interfered in our earlier fight?" Shadow asked, the tree trunk painfully digging into his cheek. "I don't know her. Our encounter was brief."

Sonic narrowed his eyes in displeasure. He wanted to ask more but was interrupted by an awfully familiar voice coming from Shadow's communicator.

"Shadow...Shadow! I'm sorry, something went wrong. I've been locked in the safe vault with the Chaos Emerald. I can't escape."

Sonic blinked in confusion and was about to ask if it was really Rouge's voice that he heard, but just then Shadow chose that moment to break free out of Sonic's slightly weakened grip.

"Shadow, can you hear me? What are you doing?!" suddenly Rouge's voice was replaced by Dr. Robotnik's gruff one. "The island is going to explode soon. Hurry up and escape before you blow up into pieces!"

"Explode!?" Sonic exclaimed, alarmed.

"You have five minutes left. I've already left the island. You and Rouge can save yourselves."

"Oh no, I've got to get everyone away from here!" Turning around, Sonic ran to where he knew his friends were.

He only had five minutes to save everyone.

...

It took Sierra five minutes to reach the burning prison. It felt a great deal longer.

Sierra kept thinking about Shadow and what to say to him when she finally finds him.

She felt as if the weight of the world was pulling her down. Every breath felt like she was going to drown, and instead of asking for help, she was willing to risk losing her life.

Sierra was playing games with life and death, and that what terrified her the most.

She stopped after what seemed like forever running and looked around the area. The prison and trees near the building were burning and the thick black smoke made it hard to breathe and see. Sierra covered her mouth and nose with her jacket sleeve and moved forward. She only stopped when she heard her heals click on the concrete ground. After taking a few deep breathes, she ran in the direction of the prison entrance.

The heat and smoke was starting to botherher, but she kept telling herself that once she located Shadow everything would be alright. Or devastatingly wrong considering the circumstances.

Sierra came to a sudden stop when she noticed the X-Tornado in the distance. She quickly looked around, as if expecting Sonic and the others to come running from around the corner and start yelling at her for being a stupid and naive human. In fear of losing precious time, she banished her ridiculous thoughts and continued to move forward. Soon she reached an end where the only thing that separated her from her friends was a concrete wall.

Sierra pressed her hands against the wall and listened.

"Good job, guys."

It was Sonic's voice.

Sierra took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Sonic managed to escape and that gave her hope that, despite how the day will end, everything will be alright. Sonic will protect his friends.

"We should get out of here," Knuckles said.

After the echidna spoke, everyone suddenly went quiet and for a brief moment Sierra thought that maybe they knew that she was there. Sierra stood absolutely still until Sonic spoke up.

"Not yet. All of you stay here and be ready to take off. I'm going to look for that black hedgehog."

The next moment, Sierra saw a blue blur disappearing among the trees. She knew she would be risking her purpose for being on the island if Sonic sees her, but it was the only way for her to find Shadow at that rate.

With her mind made up, she dashed after Sonic, completely unaware that Sonic's little brother caught a glimpse of her when she ran into the forest.

Tails thought that he had imagined it. Sierra couldn't be on Prison Island. It was impossible.

While Amy and Knuckles stood talking by the plane, Tails went to fallow what he thought was Sierra running into the forest.

_It's impossible. She wouldn't be here. It was probably just another soldier, _Tails thought as he chased after the human. Even though he was away from the burning trees the smoke was everywhere and it made it harder to keep up.

Using his twin tails', the fox tried to manoeuvre between the trees while all the while calling out his friend's name.

"Sierra...Sierra, is that you!?"

When the human suddenly stopped and looked around, as if deciding in which direction to run next, Tails saw that it was indeed Sierra.

Sierra seemed to be unaware that she was fallowed, continued to run through the forest. Tails increased his speed and tried to catch up.

Because of all the black smoke, he didn't saw the falling tree until it hit the ground right in front of him, startling him greatly and making him fall down and painfully hitting the back of his head. His vision blurred and with a weak cough he tried to call out to Sierra even though he knew she was to far to hear him.

"Sierra...come...back..." The smoke in his lungs made it impossible to talk.

Somewhere in the distance he heard Knuckles' voice calling him.

Tails' head started to hurt badly and the little fox passed out.

...

Sierra ran as fast as she could, trying to get away from all of the smoke. She had to stop a few times and guess in which direction to run next, because she had lost sight of Sonic the moment he ran into the forest and was now blindly running straight in hopes of spotting Sonic or Shadow.

Sierra faintly heard a tree crash somewhere not far from where she was. It startled her greatly and she began to run faster, never looking back in fear of seeing something actually falling towards her. When she finally reached a clearing with no smoke, she slowed down.

When Sierra was about to stop and catch her breath, she saw him.

Shadow the hedgehog stood a few feet away from her, looking up into the sky, seemingly lost in thought.

Sierra quickly hid behind a tree and observed him. He just stood there for a few short moments before he raised his wrist to his mouth and spoke.

"Can you hear me, Rouge?" he asked. Sierra faintly heard Rouge's reply.

"I'm here!"

"Do you still have the Chaos Emerald with you?"

"Of course I have it."

"I'll be right there to pick it up." Without waiting for Rouge's reply, Shadow ended the call and reached behind his back, pulling out the violet Chaos Emerald.

Shadow raised the gem and softly murmured Chaos Control. It was then that Sierra leaped from behind the tree and ran towards Shadow. The moment her hand grabbed his arm, both of them disappeared in a flash of bright light.

As soon as the light vanished, Sierra lost her grip on Shadow and stumbled backwards, colliding with the heavy iron doors with her back. She was quite surprised that she was still standing. The moment she touched Shadow's arm, energy exploded in her fingers and blazed up her arm, ravaging through her body in a heartbeat. This was how it felt to go through Chaos Control for the first time.

While Sierra was trying to slow down her rapidly beating heart, she noticed that Rouge was there, in the strange metal covered room, together with her. The bat was sitting on the ground with her back pressed against the iron doors and was looking at Shadow like he was the most terrifying thing in the room.

"Let's go." Shadow said to Rouge, and with dread Sierra realized what he was about to do.

He was going to leave her trapped inside the prison.

"W-wait just a minute!" Rouge got over her shock and was now glaring daggers at Shadow. "What about the girl?" Rouge said, pointing at Sierra.

"I don't care what happens to that girl." Shadow's voice was like ice; it made Sierra wince visibly.

"...you don't care?" Sierra breathed, voice barely a whisper, "If you don't care, then why did you save me the other night?"

Silence. Shadow gave her no answer.

"If it meant nothing to you, then why did you do it?" Sierra snapped angrily.

One again, she was met with silence. Shadow's expression hardly changed at all. He was unreadable.

Sierra hesitated, but only for an instant. "I don't think you're a bad person."

Shadow reacted almost instantly. "You don't know anything about me, girl!"

"Same goes for you. You don't know me at all. But that didn't stop you from saving my life last night, like it didn't stop me from coming all this way, to a top-secret military prison in the middle of the ocean, just to talk to you." Sierra shouted back.

Shadow could not form a response. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know why he saved the girl. Maybe it all had to do with Maria. Maybe when he saw the girl, so close to death, he thought of Maria, and in that moment he couldn't stand the thought of seeing another child die right before his eyes. Or maybe there was an entirely different reason, one that still remained a mystery even to him.

Shadow fought the urge to chuckle. What a strange pair they were: Shadows created danger, while the girl fallowed it. Sierra was obviously no Maria.

Shadow snorted. "What do you want from me, girl?"

Sierra sighed deeply and closed her eyes. Her body visibly relaxed and she fought the urge to sink to the ground.

"I...I want to help you."

Both, Shadow and Rouge, seemed to be dumbstruck by her answer. While Shadow remained silent, Rouge was quick to voice her thoughts.

"What do you mean, you want to help him?" Rouge's voice was laced with disapproval, and she was glaring at Sierra with barely-veiled anger. "You want to help Robotnik take over your home planet?"

"No," Sierra whispered softly. "I want to _help _Shadow."

Sierra slowly opened her eyes and looked at Shadow. Ruby and sapphire orbs met and time seemed to stop for them. The bloody thoughts of revenge seemed to vanish temporally from Shadow's mind and he was able to remember the innocent days when everyone he cared for were still alive and happy. Those days long since ended and now only painful reality remained.

_It doesn't matter what they do now. It's only a matter of time before the past delivers what they truly deserve._

Shadow makes his decision, raises the hand holding the purple emerald high above his head, and speaks the words under his breath.

A few seconds later, the room was swallowed by a hot-white explosion as the timer finally reached zero.

...

Tails slowly opened his eyes and the first thing he noticed, was that he was inside the X-Tornado. The plane was flying, that much he could tell, and it looked like Sonic was sitting in the pilot seat.

Tails slowly raised his hand and touched the back of his head. He could feel a small bump there and his head still hurt.

"Sonic?" Tails murmured weakly and closed his eyes.

"Hey little bro," Sonic said softly. "How are you feeling? Knuckles said you ran into the forest, so he fallowed you. He found you lying unconscious near a fallen tree. What happened?"

A sudden feeling of dread washed over Tails and he sat up straight. His eyes become wide and he looked from right to left as if searching for something. Sonic noticed the strange behaviour immediately.

"Tails, buddy, what's wrong?" Sonic asked, looking over his shoulder at his little brother who was now looking down at the burning island below them.

Tails shook his head jerkily, unable to speak the words that were burning on the tip of his tongue. He looked back where Amy and Knuckles were; sitting in the back of the X-Tornado, expecting to see there another person but she wasn't there...she was gone.

"Tails?"

Tails slowly turned to face his older brother; tears were running down his soft cheeks.

"She's still down there isn't she? She didn't make it? She's gone...Sierra is...she's gone!" Tails spoke brokenly.

There was one brief moment of ease and then everything went wrong.

Silence. "...what did you just say?"


End file.
